Harry Slithers In: The Philosopher's Stone
by Dragonson
Summary: What if, instead of the Weasleys, Harry met another wizarding family at Kings Cross? A family of Slytherins. My take on Harry in Slytherin but it will follow the basic story in the books. Year 1 of a new story. Warnings: Character death, some age inappropriate behavior (nothing explicit). Disclaimer: I am not JK Rowling. I do not own Harry Potter.
1. 1 Catching the Train

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter nor am I attempting to make any personal gain from this story.

 **Author's Notes:** Everything that happens in the books up until the Dursley's drop Harry off at King's Cross occurs unchanged.

This story contains character death and some age inappropriate behavior. Nothing especially graphic but it may not be suitable for some people.

I have described Tracey as an ambitious person who knows what she wants (Harry) and knows how to get it (him). Her behavior is not entirely appropriate for an 11 year old girl but it is not unheard of.

 **Harry Slithers-in; Philosopher's Stone: Chapter 1: Catching the Train**

Harry looked at the numbers above the platforms. The Dursleys were right; there seemed to be no platform labelled 9&3/4. Nervously he looked around wondering if he could risk asking a guard.

"Excuse me."

Harry turned to the speaker. She looked to be about his own age and about the same height with brownish blonde hair, lightly tanned skin, dark eyes and an average build. "Yes?" he asked.

"Are you looking for the Hogwarts express?"

"Yeah, I am," he replied.

The girl smiled at him. "It's right here. Follow me. I'm Tracey Davis, by the way."

"I'm Harry Potter. Are you a Hogwarts student?"

When Harry said his name the girl had stopped and looked back at him, a look of surprise on her face. Now she smiled broadly and hurried a short distance to where a woman stood watching them. "Mum," she said when she reached the woman, "I just met Harry Potter. Harry this is my mother and that's my brother Robert." She pointed to an older boy a short distance away.

The woman looked at Harry and smiled. "I'm Janet Davis. Tracey is starting at Hogwarts this year and I assume you are, too, since you looked lost just now."

"Yeah, I am. Nobody told me where the platform is," Harry replied.

"Just follow me," Robert said before pushing his trolley straight towards the back of the ticket booth between platforms 9 and 10. Harry watched as he seemed to disappear straight into the seemingly solid barrier.

"That's how to do it," Tracey said. She walked toward the barrier pushing her own trolley and soon disappeared from view.

"Off you go, Harry. Walk briskly and don't be afraid. It's not as solid as it looks, although muggles cannot pass through it unless they are accompanied by a magical person," Mrs. Davis said.

Feeling very nervous Harry did as he was told. Much to his surprise, after a brief moment of darkness, he soon found himself under a sign saying Platform 9&3/4, Hogwarts Express, Departs 11am.

Mrs. Davis appeared behind him a moment later while Tracey came back to greet him; Robert had already headed off towards the train.

"Do you want to sit with me, Harry?" Tracey asked. Harry accepted her offer and they set off together towards the back of the train. When they reached the last carriage Mrs. Davis helped both Tracey and Harry lift their trunks aboard the train, Harry set of to find a compartment while Tracey said goodbye to her mother. A few moments later she joined Harry in an otherwise empty compartment. Once the two of them had settled Tracey told Harry she had guessed he might be looking Platform 9&3/4 because he had an owl with his luggage. She also admitted she had guessed who he was before speaking to him. Harry thanked her for her help.

Shortly after this another girl knocked on the door to their compartment. She was tall and slim with blonde hair to just below her shoulders, blue eyes and pale skin. "Hello, Tracey. Mind if I join you?" She asked while looking at Harry.

"Come on in," Tracey replied. "This is Harry Potter, by the way. Harry, this is my cousin, Daphne Greengrass."

"The Harry Potter?" Daphne asked. Tracey rolled her eyes.

"How many Harry Potters do you think there are who will be starting at Hogwarts this year?" Tracey asked, looked somewhat annoyed.

Daphne sat down next to Tracey looking embarrassed. "Sorry. That was a silly question," she said. Harry wasn't quite sure what to think.

Once the train left the station Harry and the two girls sat talking together until the lunch trolley arrived. Along the way Harry learnt that Tracey's mother and Daphne's father were sister and brother. Since he had not eaten breakfast Harry was very hungry and bought a lot of food, much to the girls' amusement. They both bought a much smaller quantity of food.

After eating a couple of pumpkin pasties Harry picked up a chocolate frog. "Be careful with that," Tracey said. "It might jump out at you."

Harry stopped. "They're not real frogs; are they?" he asked.

"No, but they do jump," Tracey said, laughing.

Harry opened the wrapping and caught the frog as it jumped out, quickly stuffing it into his mouth. As he chewed it he looked at the card underneath. It showed a picture of Albus Dumbledore, the Headmaster of Hogwarts. Turning the card over, he read about Dumbledore's achievements including how he discovered 12 uses for dragon's blood and how he assisted someone named Nicholas Flamel in research into alchemy.

"Do you collect chocolate frog cards?" Daphne asked.

"I've never seen them before. Hey, he's gone," Harry had just turned the card over and discovered Dumbledore's picture had vanished.

"Don't worry about it, Harry. In the wizarding world portraits always move. Give it a moment and he'll be back," Tracey explained.

Sure enough, after a few seconds Dumbledore moved back into the frame.

Harry decided he would collect the cards from the chocolate frogs. Soon he had cards for several famous witches and wizards as well as Dumbledore.

"Do you have any close family in the wizarding world?" Daphne asked Harry.

"Not that I know of," Harry replied. "I grew up with my mother's sister but she is not magical, nor are my uncle or cousin."

"It might be possible to find out if you do have any wizarding relatives. We could check through magical records later this year if you like," Daphne suggested.

"That would be interesting, yeah," Harry replied.

"My mother married a muggle," Tracey said. "When Robert got his Hogwarts letter dad became angry and accused mum of lying to him. They are now divorced and I have to spend part of the summer holidays with him. At least it means I am up to date with the muggle world as well as the wizarding world."

At this point there was a knock on their compartment door. Three boys stood there. The one in the middle was thin with a pale face. Harry recognised him as the boy from Madam Malkin's. The other two were tall and heavy set and looked almost as if they were body guards. Daphne went to the door and asked, "What do you want, Malfoy?"

"Hello, Greengrass," the boy in the middle said. "I heard a rumour that Harry Potter was in this compartment so I decided to come introduce myself." Daphne stepped away from the door and the three boys entered "I'm Malfoy; Draco Malfoy." The boy held out his hand to Harry.

Harry glanced at the Daphne, who seemed almost bored, and at Tracey, who was eyeing Malfoy with suspicion. Harry took Malfoy's hand. "Hello. It's nice to meet you," he said.

"Wise move Potter. You will quickly find out that some wizarding families are better than others," Malfoy said. "The Greengrasses, for example, are a good family to know. They are generally respectable and have a good family history." He pointed to the boy on his left "The Crabbe family are known for their loyalty but not their brains and the same is true for the Goyle family." Malfoy pointed to the boy on his right as he spoke.

"As you will discover there are a number of 'name' families in our year and you would be well advised to get on friendly terms with them. The first step to that would be to be sorted into Slytherin. It is likely that most of the people from the 'name' families will end up there. Well, I must be getting back to my compartment. We are nearly at Hogsmeade station." Malfoy turned to Daphne. "See you soon Greengrass, and you too Davis." With that Malfoy left, taking Crabbe and Goyle with him.

Tracey hadn't stopped glaring at Malfoy the whole time he had been in the compartment. Curious, Harry asked her, "Don't you like him?"

"He's a Malfoy," Tracey replied. "To him a half-blood like me is inferior. He is just a stuck-up ponce."

A short time later a girl with bushy hair and large front teeth entered their compartment. "Has anybody in here seen a toad? A boy named Neville has lost one," she said. Harry noticed she was already wearing her school uniform, making Harry realise they must be nearly at Hogwarts.

"No, and haven't you heard of knocking?" Daphne replied, eyeing the girl suspiciously.

The girl seemed somewhat taken aback and mumbled, "Sorry, just asking," as she left. Daphne got up and closed both the door and the curtain after her.

"We really should get changed too," Tracey said to the room. She grabbed a small case and opened it, pulling out her uniform. Much to Harry's surprise she immediately began undressing and was soon standing in front of him wearing only her underwear and socks. Harry looked at Daphne and realised she was watching him, an evil looking smile on her face.

After Tracey had donned her uniform Daphne said, "Since you were watching Tracey so closely just now I think it only fair you should get changed here as well." Feeling somewhat embarrassed Harry very quickly grabbed his uniform and changed into it. When he had finished Daphne also changed while in the compartment. Harry tried not to watch too closely but is eyes kept drifting back to her.

"You know, Harry, you have no reason to be embarrassed about being caught watching girls getting dressed," Daphne said after she had finished. "It's only natural and neither Tracey nor I mind you watching us."

Tracey leant over and kissed him on the cheek. "I am relieved you enjoyed that. Otherwise there would have been some very disappointed girls around," she said. Harry didn't fully understand her meaning but decided not to pursue it.

Sometime later the train stopped at Hogsmeade station. They were instructed to leave their belongings in their compartments as these would be brought to the school separately. Harry stayed with the girls until he heard Hagrid summoning the first years' to him. When Harry reached Hagrid he was asked, "all righ', Harry? No problems I hope?"

"No, I'm fine," Harry replied.

"Is tha' all of yer?" Hagrid yelled. When no-one dissented he added," Righ', first years follow me."

Hagrid led the group of about 40 students along a narrow path that took them away from the town and the road and along a forest path, finally emerging at the top of a slope leading down to a lake. Across the lake stood Hogwarts. The number of gasps of awe Harry heard showed he wasn't the only one to be amazed by the sight.

The path to the shore was slippery, although Harry managed to not fall over, unlike several of the others. Whenever someone slipped there was a short burst of laughter but it was quickly stifled. At the bottom Hagrid told them to board a fleet of small boats. Daphne approached a tall, thin boy with mousey hair and invited him to join her, Tracey and Harry in one of the boats. He accepted.

Once they were in the boat and away from the shore Daphne explained her actions. "I take it neither of you," pointing to Harry and Tracey, "noticed that red-headed boy watching us closely back there? I recognised him. He's a Weasley and I wouldn't trust him. He seemed especially interested in you Harry. This, by the way, is Theodore Nott; Theo you already know Tracey and this is Harry Potter."

Theodore glanced at Harry before nodding to him. Harry returned the nod. He then looked for the boy Daphne had mentioned and saw him a short distance away still intently watching Harry. When their eyes met the boy's expression turned into a glare before he turned to the others in Harry's boat. Harry couldn't help the feeling that this boy didn't like him, although he had no idea why since he'd never met the boy before now.


	2. 2 The Sorting Ceremony

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter nor am I attempting to make any personal gain from this story.

 **Harry Slithers-in; Philosopher's Stone: Chapter 2: The Sorting Ceremony**

As the boats pulled up to a series of short wharves right under the castle Harry began feeling increasingly nervous. Here he was about to enter a realm that barely a month ago he had thought was nothing but a fantasy. Now he knew it was real. How would people react to him and how would he be expected to behave? Everything about the wizarding world he had encountered so far seemed stuck in the 19th century. Wizards didn't even have electricity. He hoped they at least had running water.

After everyone had left the boats Hagrid led them up a short path to a side entrance then along a short corridor. After checking to ensure no-one had gotten lost Hagrid knocked three times on a large iron braced door. It was opened immediately by an elderly, stern faced woman whom Hagrid addressed as Professor McGonagall. Professor McGonagall spoke with a strong Scottish accent as she addressed the students.

"In a few moments," she began, "you will pass through these doors into the Great Hall where the sorting ceremony will be held. There are four houses: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and I hope you will all be of credit to whatever house you may be sorted into. In the meantime you will wait quietly here and try to make yourselves presentable."

As she said this last part her eyes drifted over the students. Harry noticed she lingered on a few students notably a boy with his cloak secured under his ear and the Weasley boy who looked particularly scruffy.

Professor McGonagall left to finish the arrangements for their reception leaving them standing around nervously chatting amongst themselves. Harry stayed close to Daphne and Tracey who at least didn't seem as nervous as he felt. Suddenly several people screamed and Harry saw a number of ghosts had drifted into the room. They were discussing someone named Peeves but stopped when they saw the students. One of the ghosts, a fat man dressed like a monk, addressed them. "Oho, what have we here? New students! Welcome to Hogwarts. I hope to see some of you in Hufflepuff."

Professor McGonagall returned at this point and shooed the ghosts away before requesting the students follow her. Harry felt nervous and just hoped he wasn't about to make a fool of himself in front of the whole school. They were led into the Great Hall which Harry could see contained four long tables each of which had about 70 students seated at it. They were led to the front of a fifth table at which the staff were seated. Professor McGonagall then placed a battered old wizard's hat on a stall in front of the first years. Everybody in the hall went quiet and seemed focused on the hat. Suddenly a rip near the brim of the hat quivered, formed a mouth and began singing.

At the end of the song the hat bowed to each of the tables before becoming still. "When I call your name you will sit on the stall and I will place the sorting hat on head," Professor McGonagall told the first years. "Abbott, Hannah," was the first name read out.

McGonagall steadily moved through the list of names. When Tracey's name was read out Harry watched as she sat on the stall under the sorting hat. It took the hat only a few seconds before it called out "Slytherin." Tracey went to the Slytherin table where she joined Crabbe and a girl named Millicent Bulstrode, both of whom had already been sorted.

The next name Harry recognised was Goyle. He joined Crabbe at the Slytherin table. Right after him was the bushy haired girl who had barged into their compartment. Hermione Granger became a Gryffindor and straight after her was Daphne Greengrass who joined Slytherin.

When Draco Malfoy became a Slytherin the hat barely touched his head. This was easily the quickest sorting to date. Harry wondered how long his would take and began feeling increasingly nervous. When the "P's" started he tried to keep calm, wondering when his turn would came. Professor McGonagall read out the names; "Parkinson, Patil, Patil, Perks" and finally "Potter, Harry."

Shaking slightly, Harry sat on the stall aware as he did so of the level of muttering that was going around the room. McGonagall placed the hat on his head: 'Hmm, interesting. So much potential. It would be a shame to waste it but where should I put you?' the hat seemed to be speaking straight into his mind.

'I know a few Slytherins. They mostly seem nice,' Harry thought.

'Yes, Slytherin would be a good fit for you but all your family were in Gryffindor. How do you feel about going there?'

'Tracey, Daphne, even Malfoy are all Slytherins. I don't really know anyone else here. I know Slytherin is supposed to have a bad reputation but my own experiences with them have all been good so far.'

'Fair enough.' The hat shouted "Slytherin."

Harry handed the hat back to Professor McGonagall and almost ran to the Slytherin table. It was only after he'd sat down he realised only a handful of people had clapped. Indeed, it seemed as if most people were in shock. Tracey, however, hugged him as he sat down while Daphne smiled broadly and gave him a light kiss on the cheek; even Malfoy gave him a nod of approval.

It was several seconds before Professor McGonagall read out the next name (Rivers, Quincy) – a fact that made Harry wonder what had happened. He asked Tracey "Why was everybody so quiet when I was sorted?"

"I don't know. I would guess people were just surprised you became a Slytherin," she replied.

"Why should they be surprised?" he asked. Tracey just shrugged.

Once the sorting was finished the Welcoming Feast magically appeared on the table. Harry had never seen so much food and, not wanting to miss anything, tried a little bit of everything – except the mint humbugs – he wondered why they were there since they weren't exactly nutritious food.

Once all the main dishes were cleared away (again by magic) they were replaced with desserts. As before Harry tried a bit of everything. "You sure like your desserts, Harry," Tracey said looking at his plate which was almost overflowing with food.

"I just thought I'd try different things; you know, see what I like best," he said.

"If you say so," she replied, smiling.

From where he was seated Harry had a clear view of the staff table. He looked at Hagrid but he seemed to be deliberately ignoring Harry even though the person sitting next to him did not seem interested in Hagrid's conversation. Looking further along the table Harry caught Professor Dumbledore's eye. The headmaster gave Harry what looked almost like a sad smile. Harry wondered why but didn't dwell on it.

Further along the table sat a greasy haired teacher who was talking to Professor Quirrell whom Harry remembered meeting in Diagon Alley. At the precise moment Harry looked at him the greasy haired teacher looked in Harry's direction and, almost at once, a sharp pain shot across Harry's scar. "Ow," he yelped.

"Are you alright, Harry?" Tracey asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Harry forced himself to eat something, aware that Tracey was watching him. After a few moments she returned to her own food. Harry glanced at the staff table but neither Quirrell nor the teacher next to him looked in his direction.

"Tracey? Do you know the name of that greasy haired teacher next to Quirrell?" he asked.

"Don't let him hear you call him greasy haired," she said. "That's Professor Snape, our head of house, and he is known to get quite vindictive with people he doesn't like."

"I see. Thanks for the warning."

After they had finished professor Dumbledore stood to make some announcements. One that particularly caught Harry's attention was that a corridor on the 3rd floor was out of bounds "To those you wished to avoid a painful death," as Dumbledore had put it. Nobody seemed to understand what he meant which just made Harry even more curious. He wondered why but decided to forget about it for now.

When the students were dismissed an older boy called out, "First years gather round here." While many older students went on ahead a few, almost all of them prefects, remained behind. It was one of the prefects who had spoken. "All first years here, there should be 11 of them, can someone do a quick head count?"

Once confirmed all first years were present the prefects led the group out of the Great Hall, across the entrance to a narrow tunnel that sloped down. Harry realised they were heading into the dungeons under the castle and assumed their destination would be like the dungeon rooms he had seen in some of Dudley's video games.

After a couple of minutes the prefects stopped in front of a plain stone wall. "The entrance to our Common Room is concealed behind this blank wall," the prefect said. "To get into the room you need the password, which is 'Supremacy'. Without it you will be stuck out here until someone lets you in. if that does happen to you you'd better pray it isn't Professor Snape, our head of house, who finds you. Almost the only reason he gives detentions to Slytherins is if they forget the password."

While he had been speaking a section of the wall behind him had opened to reveal a large, comfortable looking room with a green carpet and green and silver furnishings. It was nothing like Harry had been expecting and he couldn't help being impressed. The prefect then led them into the room before continuing.

"Welcome to the Common room. If you have a dispute with any fellow Slytherin make sure you sort it out in here. Slytherin is not the most popular house at Hogwarts so it is vital we present a unified face to the other houses. Slytherins always stick together because, if we don't, no-one else will stick up for us. It is one of the problems with being the best house – everyone else is envious of us."

The prefects then introduced themselves to the first years. The boy who had done all the talking was Malcolm Bulstrode, older brother of Harry's fellow first year Millicent. He was one of the seventh year prefects and made it clear first years should not come to him unless it was life or death. He had his Newts coming up and couldn't afford to be continually distracted by 'Whining firsties.' Lastly the students were directed to their dormatories and were told to be up by 7am next morning.

Feeling very tired by now Harry followed Draco through a plain green door with the word 'Boys' written in silver letters. This led to a corridor with seven more green doors, each of these embossed with a large silver number. Draco entered the room with the number 1 on the door. Inside were six large, comfortable looking four-poster beds with green and silver curtains and covered in green, silver and black bedclothes. Above each bed was a small light just bright enough to read by or to do homework under, but not so bright as to annoy others.

Draco, along with Crabbe and Goyle immediately headed to three beds on the opposite side of the room, Draco in the middle bed; Crabbe to his right when facing the centre of the room and Goyle to his left. Theodore Nott, the boy who had shared Harry's boat with Daphne and Tracey, took the bed nearest the main entrance while Blaise Zabini took the middle bed. This left Harry with the bed closest to the ensuite and directly opposite Crabbe who was already changing for bed.

Harry wondered how to turn the light above his bed off but as soon as he had pulled the covers over himself the light went out anyway. He decided he'd ask in the morning about how to work it; for now he just wanted to sleep.


	3. 3 The First Week

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter nor am I attempting to make any personal gain from this story.

 **Harry Slithers-in; Philosopher's Stone: Chapter 3: The First Week**

Harry awoke the following morning after having a strange dream. He had already forgotten most of it but a few points remained in his memory. He remembered dreaming that he was wearing Professor Quirrell's turban and that it was talking to him. It told him he had made the right choice to enter Slytherin and now he needed to bow down before his true master, a man with the face of a snake. He had refused and the turban then began trying to strangle him. The harder he fought the tighter in became until – he woke up at that point, shaking and sweating. Harry assumed the snake-faced man was Salazar Slytherin, after all Slytherin house's symbol was a serpent with glowing eyes but why would someone who died a thousand years age still claim to be his master?

Deciding it wasn't important Harry quickly showered, dressed and headed to the common room. He was the first one to arrive so explored the room while he waited. Everything here was in green and silver and had an earthy feel to it, although it was warm and comfortable. Everywhere he looked he could see the serpent motif – even the ceiling bore the emblem.

Shortly before 7am the prefects started to arrive. "Right, take a seat while the others get their acts together," one of them said. Harry did as he was told. Almost immediately Theodore Nott arrived and sat with Harry. The other boys, along with Tracey and Daphne, arrived over the next minute but there was no sign of the other girls when 7 o'clock chimed from the green grandfather clock in the room.

"Gemma?" Malcolm began, "Would you mind getting those other layabouts in there, please? Otherwise we'll be late." The girl he had addressed headed into the girls dorms returning a few minutes later with three grumbling girls. Pansy Parkinson's shrill voice could be heard long before they appeared.

"Alright," Pansy complained. "We're coming." Pansy, Millicent Bulstrode and Beverly Runcorn sat down on an empty couch, all of them looking sour.

"Right, first years, now that you're all here there are a few house rules you need to know," Malcolm began. "As you are first years you must do what an older housemate tells you to do unless you have a very good reason for not doing it. If you are studying at a table in here and an older year asks you to move, for example, you move. You have your own corner to study in, it's over there," he pointed to a corner of the room well away from the fire, "and that is usually where you will work. That way you don't annoy the rest of us too much. You'll soon see where the older students like to study and you'll want to remember that.

"Classes start at 8–45 and continue until 4–15. The exact details will be on your timetables which Professor Snape will be delivering shortly. Breakfast starts in the Great Hall at 7–30 and you will be starting classes today. I would advise you to take all the books etc. you'll need for each morning with you, although on the days your lessons don't start 'til later on you will have the time to come back here to get your stuff. Of course, you'd only do that if you like exercise." Malcolm seemed to be looking at his sister, Millicent as he spoke. Harry seriously doubted she liked exercise, however, so he guessed her brother was being sarcastic.

"The library is available to anyone who wishes to use it for study or research. The opening hours are on a notice outside the library entrance. If you don't yet know where it is we'll take you there this afternoon after classes finish since it's likely we'll need to start on our own work this evening anyway.

"Most teachers allow students to use their classrooms for study outside normal class hours provided you clean up after yourselves; Professor Snape, however, doesn't. This means that we have slightly fewer options available to us in the way of alternative study venues than other houses do. This is the reason why each year group has their own study space in here. Try and keep to your own areas. Any questions? No. Good. Now just sit here quietly until Professor Snape arrives."

While they were waiting the other prefects introduced themselves. By the time Professor Snape arrived most of the older students had entered the Common Room as well. Harry watched as they settled themselves down into groups seemingly according their years. He assumed this was so Snape would have an easier job sorting out each person's timetable.

Once Snape arrived he was straight to work. Second, third, fourth, fifth and seventh years were given their timetables first. Once they had received them they headed back to their dormatories presumably to get the books they would need that morning. As such the room was bustle of activity for several minutes. Next, Snape turned to the first years.

"I will tell you this now," Professor Snape began in a quiet, but none the less menacing, voice, "that should any of you do anything to in any way disgrace this house I will punish you most severely." Harry couldn't help thinking that Snape appeared to be watching him closely as he was speaking.

"Here are your timetables. Please note that all your classes are shared with one of the other houses. As such I expect you all to be on your best behaviour during class time." Snape then handed around the first year timetable. Harry saw their first class was History of Magic and they would be together with Hufflepuff. They would then stay with the Hufflepuffs for Charms before having lunch at 12–30.

While the first years were going over their timetables Professor Snape took the sixth years aside. Harry noticed it took far longer to sort out the sixth years than it had for any other year group. Soon Malcolm was back to lead the first years up to the Great Hall for breakfast. Quickly they retrieved the books they would need for that morning and returned to the Common Room before leaving for breakfast.

Harry listened to the conversations around him as he ate. The main topic was clearly lessons and what various people expected they would be like. Their first class (History of Magic) appeared to be one class those students with older siblings felt would be a complete bore. Apparently it was taught by a ghost. Harry wondered if it would be as bad as it sounded.

At 8-30 they left for the History of Magic classroom with the Hufflepuffs right behind them. It only took a few minutes for Harry to realise it would be as bad as the others expected. Harry had trouble staying awake as did many others. Fortunately charms was a little better although since the class was all theory it wasn't exactly exciting, either.

Over the course of the week Harry and his fellow first years got to know their way around the castle. He felt most of the lessons were interesting but it seemed many others were bored with them. He supposed it was because they had grown up around magic and were used to it.

The class most of his fellow students were looking forward to was potions which was taught by their own head of house Professor Snape. The worst thing about it, Harry believed, would be that it was with the Gryffindors. He soon realised, however, that Professor Snape had a distinctly nasty streak. After taking the role Snape began with a speech; "There will be no foolish wand waving in this class. As such some of you may think that the art of potion making is beneath you. However, for those of you who understand the allure of a finely brewed potion, the soft shimmer of the fumes from your cauldron as they entwine the senses and ensnare the mind, you will learn in this class a branch of magic as subtle as it is potent, assuming of course you are not the usual back of dunderheads I normally have to teach." Up until that last part Snape's voice had been almost soft but the final few words were spoken in a much harsher voice.

"Potter," Snape snapped suddenly, making Harry jump. "Tell me, what would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"

Harry had no idea what Snape was talking about although Hermione Granger put her hand into the air immediately. Harry thought for a second but nothing came to mind. "I don't know, sir," he finally said.

"I see," Snape said in his usual quiet, menacing voice. Harry looked Snape in the eye and tried to hold his attention but soon Snape looked away, a look of disdain on his face.

"Weasley? If I asked you for a bezoar where would you look for one?"

Ron Weasley seemed shocked Snape had asked him a question. He looked totally confused although, once again, Granger's hand was in the air. Harry already knew from previous classes the she always seemed to know all the answers so he wasn't really surprised by this.

"I don't know," Weasley replied. Snape glared at him.

"One point will be deducted from Gryffindor for not addressing me as sir," Snape growled at him. "Longbottom, tell me, what is the difference between monkshood and wolfsbane?"

"They're the same plant, sir, also called aconite," the boy replied.

"Correct," Snape said, sounding surprised. Granger lowered her hand, looking disappointed. "For your information asphodel and wormwood create the potion of living death and a bezoar will protect you from most poisons. Well? Why aren't you writing that down?" There was a scramble as the students picked up their quills and scratched the answers down on parchment. Although Harry was not looking at Professor Snape he was certain the man was watching him closely.

After a while Snape set them the task of brewing a simple calming draft. It was a straight forward potion which Harry and Tracey, who he was working alongside were well on their way to completing when they were distracted by a yelp from Longbottom. Almost instantly the air was filled with a noxious smell and billowing clouds of smoke – Longbottom had managed to set his cauldron on fire and it had melted, causing its contents to spill on the floor where it began eating peoples' shoes.

Everybody jumped onto their chairs as Snape rushed to Longbottom muttering, "Idiot boy. Did you not read the instructions properly? Did you not realise you were supposed to remove your cauldron from the heat before adding the last ingredient? Weasley, why did you not stop him? Or were you too busy destroying your own potion to care about anyone else?"

It only took Professor Snape a few seconds to clean up the mess and direct Seamus Finnegan, another Gryffindor student, to escort Longbottom to the hospital wing.

After they were dismissed Harry found himself with a free afternoon. He decided on a leisurely lunch and, while eating, listened in on the conversations around him. Apparently all the first years had Friday afternoon off, not just the Slytherins. Of more interest, however, was a discussion between Draco Malfoy and Theodore Nott. Harry had only been half listening until he heard his name mentioned.

"Malfoy?" Nott began. "What do you think of Potter?"

Draco shrugged. "He seems ok. Tends to keep to himself except when Davis is around, though."

"I've noticed," Nott said, nodding. "Do you think she's got something on him? He always seems to follow her lead?"

"Nothing like that, no. It's almost as if she's his guide, and without her he'd be lost. It might have something to do with those muggle relatives of his. It certainly looks as though they treat him badly."

"So you think he just lacks confidence?"

"You may be right, Theo. It's not something I've really thought about."

"Malfoy?" Crabbe mumbled.

"What is it, Crabbe?" Malfoy replied.

"I think Potter's listening to you," Crabbe said, looking at Harry.

Malfoy and Nott both turned to him. "Sorry, guys," Harry said. "I heard my name mentioned."

Malfoy shrugged. "Whatever, Potter. You should spend more time with us, though. After all, Davis is a girl and, if you spend too much time with girls, you might become one." The other boys laughed. Tracey, who had heard the last part, glared at them causing even more laughter from the group.

Harry decided to ignore the jibe. He did, however, resolve to spend more time with the boys in future.


	4. 4 Flying Lessens

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter nor am I attempting to make any personal gain from this story.

 **Harry Slithers-in; Philosopher's Stone: Chapter 4: Flying Lessons**

Harry's first weekend at Hogwarts started with a walk to breakfast with Theo and Blaise. Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle were still in bed and Blaise said they should go while there was still plenty of food. Although Harry doubted they would ever run out he was mindful of the conversation from Friday's lunch and resolved to spend more time with Blaise in particular; he seemed the friendliest of the first year boys.

He spent Saturday with Theo getting his homework finished in the library. Theo appeared to be the smartest of the 1st years and Harry found him easy to work with so it didn't take too long to finish. Next he joined the boys playing games in the Common Room, Draco was teaching him wizard chess but Harry wasn't a very good player so it was more a case of learning while trying not to lose too badly.

The rest of the weekend passed without incident. Harry suggested they visit Hagrid but none of the others were willing to join him so, in the end, he stayed in the Common Room. Draco knew almost all of the older students and they seemed to show him more respect than was warranted. Draco explained that since the Malfoys were a respected family it was to be expected he would be treated well. Some of the other families, although old, were less respectful than others such as his own. Harry thought the idea belonged in the middle ages but kept the opinion to himself.

The next week started off much the same as the first but, come Thursday afternoon, they had their first flying lesson. Tracey had shown him a trophy in the trophy room with his father's name on it and said he must have been a good flyer so Harry must have gotten at least some of his father's talent but he still felt nervous. When he realised they were paired with Gryffindor for the class his nervousness got worse – he knew the houses were rivals and hoped he wouldn't embarrass himself in front of them.

The flying instructor was Madam Hooch. She strode out to where about 20 brooms lay on the ground. "Come along now," she began, "step up to the left hand side of the broom, place your right hand palm down at waist height above the broom, and say 'Up'."

Harry, along with rest of the class did as told. Harry's broom immediately jumped into his hand but his was one of the few that did so. About half the class managed it at their second or third attempt but there were still a number of brooms laying the ground as Harry looked around him. Some, like Ron Weasley's, rolled around and others, Hermione Granger's for example, didn't even move.

After several attempts everyone managed to summon their broom so Madam Hooch began moving among the students correcting their grip etc. When Draco Malfoy was told his grip was wrong he complained he had been doing it that way for years. Madam Hooch simply told him he'd been doing it wrong for years and made him correct it.

Once satisfied no-one was going to fall off she told them to kick off and hover a few inches off the ground and then land. Immediately, Neville Longbottom kicked off too hard and shot straight into the air. "Come down here, boy," Madam Hooch called but Neville seemed to have lost control of his broom. Finally he lost his balance and fell off from a height of about 30 feet. He landed on soft grass and lay there moaning until Madam Hooch arrived.

While the broom flew away toward the Forbidden Forest Madam Hooch assessed Neville's injury, diagnosing a broken wrist. She helped him to his feet and said to the class, "Nobody is to mount their broom until I return. If you do I will see you are expelled faster than you can say Quidditch." She then took Neville into the castle.

Once Madam Hooch was out of sight Draco said, "Did you see the look on his face. What's this?" Draco picked up an object from the ground where Neville had landed. Harry recognised it as the rememberall Neville had received that morning, something Draco had grabbed nearly causing him and Ron Weasley to have a fight at breakfast. On that occasion Professor McGonagall had intervened but now there were no teachers in sight.

"Give that here, Malfoy," Ron snapped. Holding out his hand to Draco but Draco kept it.

"You know what?" Draco said, "I think I might leave this some place for Longbottom to find, like, maybe up a tree."

"Hand it over, Malfoy," said a girl with dark hair and skin.

"Since when do you care about cry-babies, Parvati?" Pansy replied.

Harry could see things were getting tense so he spoke up. "Draco? Give that to Weasley and let's all go back to the common room and laugh about it later."

Draco looked Harry in the eye just as Ron stepped forward. Finally Draco shrugged. "Here, Weasley," he said before throwing the ball to Ron who caught it and then backed away.

For several minutes nobody spoke before Madam Hooch returned. "Settle down," she said. "Once again; pick up your brooms, mount them and _gently_ lift off." Everybody managed a safe take off, flight and landing.

For the rest of the class the Slytherins stayed on one side of the lawn while the Gryffindors stayed on the other side. Draco was watching Harry much of the time while Crabbe and Goyle always stayed near him, also watching Harry. "Hey, Potter," Draco finally said. "How about a race to the Quidditch stadium and back? If I win you apologise for calling me out back there and, if you win, I promise not to kick you out of our dormitory for making me look bad."

"Agreed," Harry said.

Several other students gasped, they knew how good Malfoy was and thought Harry was being stupid. Harry thought he saw Tracey start to move forward but Daphne put her hand out to stop her. Harry climbed onto his broom and Draco immediately shot off toward the pitch, leaving Harry behind. Crabbe and Goyle were laughing and Harry realised he had been tricked.

Harry shot after Malfoy, putting everything he had into trying to catch him. Malfoy reached the Quidditch stadium and took a wide turn back towards the Slytherins. When Harry reached the pitch he turned much more sharply and, crouching low on the broom, shot off as fast as he could. Already he had cut the deficit by more than a half and he was still catching Draco but he wondered if he had enough time. Pointing the nose of the broom down slightly Harry picked up more speed and shot past Draco just metres from the finish line. Harry had won the race by half a broom length, much to Draco's displeasure.

Draco grumbled all the way back to the dormitory. Harry thought that, although the other students were all impressed with his victory, most of them would have preferred Draco to win. Harry, on the other hand was happy he had found something he could do without too much practice. It felt good to have at least one skill that he was better at than anyone else.

At breakfast the following morning Harry received his first item of mail since arriving at Hogwarts. Opening the letter his owl, Hedwig, had brought him he found an invitation from Hagrid for afternoon tea. He sent his reply back immediately to confirm he would be there.

Potions class in the morning was a little better than last week. For one thing Snape seemed to have given up on asking impossible questions and, for another, there were no serious accidents this time. Harry was still partnered with Tracey and he felt their working relationship was getting better. He decided to ask her to accompany him to Hagrid's and she agreed. As they left class for lunch he asked if anyone else wanted to come, deciding he might as well take his friends along assuming, of course, Hagrid agreed. No-one else wanted to come, however. Indeed Blaise asked him, "Why would you want to visit that oaf anyway?"

"Hagrid was the one who delivered my letter to me, I would like to keep in touch with him for that reason, anyway."

"Hagrid delivered your letter?" Blaise asked.

"Yeah. Is that unusual or something?" Harry asked.

"Only muggleborns get their letters hand delivered, and then it's always a teacher who brings them, not the groundsman," Blaise explained.

When they reached the Great Hall Harry saw Hagrid at the staff table so he approached him. "Hello, Hagrid," he said.

"Hello, Harry. How are you likin' it at Hogwarts so far?" Hagrid asked.

"I'm enjoying it here. Do you mind if I bring a friend with me this afternoon?"

"O' course yer can bring a friend, Harry. Who is it, by the way?"

"Tracey Davis. She was the one who showed me how to get onto Platform 9&3/4's and she is my partner in potions class," Harry explained. With that sorted Harry returned to the Slytherin table.

Harry spent an enjoyable afternoon with Hagrid. He quickly learnt that Fang, Hagrid's huge boarhound, was much friendlier than his name implied. It seemed the only danger Fang posed was nearly licking him to death. Tracey was less impressed with the huge dog. She didn't like the licking and drooling she was subjected to.

While there Harry discovered there had been a break-in at Gringotts wizarding bank on the same day he had been there with Hagrid. When he asked if this might have happened while they were there Hagrid became evasive. Harry (and Tracey) soon became convinced that the small package Hagrid had removed from the high security vault was what the thief had been after, although Hagrid refused to answer any questions about it.

As they left loaded down with several rock cakes (Harry thought they were cooked rocks judging by how hard they were) he and Tracey discussed what they had learnt about the break-in. They agreed whoever committed it must have had a very specific target, the package Hagrid had removed, and that, whatever it was, it was very dangerous and/or powerful – probably a magical artifact of some description although they couldn't guess what it might be.

On their way back to the castle they stopped by the lake to see if Hagrid's rock cakes would float – they didn't. From this Harry decided they may in fact be cooked rocks but Tracey pointed out they rocks sink quickly. She decided they more like a sinking ship that slowly filled with water as it descended into the depths. Harry thought it was a good description and left it at that.

Over dinner that night Harry discussed with the group what Hagrid had told him. Most of the students knew there had been an attempted robbery but, of course, they didn't know about Hagrid and Harry's trip earlier that day nor did they know Hagrid had removed the probable object of the theft. This elicited a long discussion that continued into the evening.

"How big was this package Hagrid picked up?" Draco asked as they sat in the Common Room.

"About two inches long. Its other dimensions were a little smaller," Harry replied.

"Did it look heavy?" Blaise asked.

"No, but Hagrid is stronger than most people. Even if it was he'd probably have no trouble carrying it," Harry said.

"We should do some research into this," Theo said. "Anyone want to help me?"

"You always want to do research, Nott," grumbled Draco. "Why can't you just have some fun once in a while?"

"I suppose it wouldn't hurt to try and learn more about it," Harry said after a moment.

"Right, then. We're off to the library. Anyone else coming?"

Nobody was interested so Harry and Theo left the group and headed to the library.

Soon they realised that, without any additional information, trying to find out what was in the package would be an almost hopeless task, however. They agreed that, for the moment, they would let it lie and returned to the Common Room to catch up with their housemates.


	5. 5 Trolls and Snakes

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter nor am I attempting to make any personal gain from this story.

 **Harry Slithers-in; Philosopher's Stone: Chapter 5: Trolls and Snakes**

The next several weeks saw Harry settle into a routine. He usually studied with Theo and they were regularly joined by other first years including Draco, Daphne and Tracey. The others either didn't study or preferred to work by themselves. Draco was still somewhat distant with Harry as he had been since the flying class but, other than that, Harry felt as if he was settling in well with his housemates.

Harry found he enjoyed Transfigurations the most since it was almost the only class with a practical content other than potions which he didn't enjoy much anyway thanks to Snape. Professor Flitwick, the diminutive charms teacher, had promised that they would soon begin practicing charms class at the end of October, something Harry was looking forward to. Indeed, once they had mastered the basics of magic, all their classes were becoming more interesting, with the obvious exception of History of Magic which was as boring as ever.

Harry, along with his fellow Slytherins, were aware of some issues in the other houses where students weren't getting along. Draco and Theo were starting to take bets on which first years would the first to come to blows. Most people were picking Gryffindors Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. Granger was a know-it-all who felt everyone should study non-stop while Weasley never seemed to study. The Slytherins found it amusing when they had potions – Professor Snape would ask a question; Granger's hand would go up and Snape would ask Weasley to answer the question. So far Weasley managed to answer only a couple of questions correctly out of about a dozen, a fact the Slytherins enjoyed.

Towards the end of October Harry began feeling depressed. He gradually became quieter, preferring to concentrate on his work. Although it seemed none of the boys noticed this Tracey did and one day she asked him about it. "Harry? I have noticed you seem less excited about Hogwarts lately. Is something wrong?"

Halloween is coming up soon," he said. "My parents died on Halloween, and this will be the 10th anniversary of their deaths."

Tracey realised the anniversary might be upsetting for him and decided to leave him alone. She hoped he would feel better after the day.

Halloween at Hogwarts was marked by a feast. It would be held in the evening after classes and, as such, it would be something to look forward to. It was made even better by the fact that Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger had finally had the argument that had been brewing since the beginning of term. It was triggered by an incident during Charms class on Halloween morning and was soon common knowledge amongst all the first years. Granger had successfully performed the spell Professor Flitwick had set them at her first attempt. Weasley had failed repeatedly and, apparently frustrated at her bossiness, had finally snapped at her. As they left class Weasley had made a particularly nasty comment and Granger hadn't been seen since. The story was she hiding in a bathroom, crying.

Harry felt sorry for her but his fellow Slytherins found it funny; even Tracey had laughed when she had heard it. Harry decided it was nothing to do with him and joined with his fellow students although he was careful not to show his feelings.

That evening, as the Halloween feast was being served in the Great Hall, Professor Quirrell sprinted into the hall and shouted, "Troll, in the dungeons." He then fainted. Panic had ensued but Professor Dumbledore had quickly restored calm with some fireworks from his wand.

"Prefects, you will lead your houses back to your Common Rooms and teachers will follow me to the dungeons," Dumbledore declared.

The other houses quickly made their way out of the hall but the Slytherin prefects told their house to remain where they were – the Slytherin Common Room was, after all, in the dungeons. They had a quick discussion and decided the safest place for them would the Hospital wing since it was only a short distance from the Great Hall.

As they were leaving Harry remembered that Hermione Granger hadn't been in the hall and didn't know about the troll. He slipped away from his house and set off after the Gryffindors. He managed to catch Ron Weasley's attention and mouthed to him "Where's Granger?"

Ron saw him and sneaked away from his house. "What do you want, Potter?" he asked.

"I wondered if you knew where Granger was. She doesn't know about the troll."

"She's in some bathroom somewhere, nowhere near the troll. She'll be fine."

"Someone should tell her though, and you are the reason she ran off."

Ron shrugged. "Fine. Let's go."

They had only gone a short distance before an incredibly bad smell assaulted their nostrils. As they moved cautiously forward they realised the troll was not in the dungeon any more but right in front of them. They watched as it stepped into a room. A few moments later a terrified scream came from the room. "Hermione," Ron shouted, sounding scared.

Both boys ran into the room. Hermione was in the corner, scared stiff, and the troll was advancing toward her, swinging a massive club randomly around the room. Already several sinks were smashed and water from broken pipes was flooding the floor. Harry grabbed a broken tap and threw it at the troll while shouting, "Hey ugly. I'm over here."

Ron shouted "Hermione, run." Their shouts echoed around the room. Distracted, the troll turned its attention to the source of the noise and saw Ron. Bellowing loudly it lumbered toward him while Harry ran around behind it. Seeing Ron was trapped Harry jumped on the trolls back and grabbed around the neck, shoving his wand into the troll's nose as he did so.

Now very angry the troll tried to smash Harry off its back with its club. The first blow missed but before it could try again Ron pulled out his wand, pointed it at the troll and said "Wingardium Leviosa." The club flew into the air, turned over and dropped straight onto the troll's head, knocking it out. Harry retrieved his wand just as Professors McGonagall, Quirrell and Snape burst into the room.

"What on earth do you think you are doing?" Professor McGonagall asked, sounding furious.

"It was my fault, Professor," Hermione began. "I went after the troll, thinking I could handle it alone. Ron and Harry saw me ran off and came after me. It was lucky they did, otherwise the troll might have killed me. Harry jumped on its back while Ron disarmed it and then knocked it out with its own club."

Harry and Ron both pretended not to be surprised by this but they were. Neither of them ever thought Hermione would tell a lie like that. Harry nodded but saw Snape glaring at him. Clearly Snape was not fooled by this story.

Professor McGonagall left with Ron and Hermione while Snape escorted Harry back to the Slytherin Common Room. Along the way Snape said, "That was an incredibly foolish thing to do Potter. Do you realise the danger you were in? What would you have done if you hadn't had so much dumb luck go your way? You were lucky Miss Granger lied to protect you. If it had been me you would not have been so lucky. Your housemates have returned to the Common Room. You will join them and you will remain there until tomorrow morning."

"I'm sorry sir," Harry replied. "It won't happen again." Harry noticed Snape was limping and seemed to be bleeding quite badly.

Snape left Harry outside the Common Room. When he entered he heard Draco call out, "Oh look, Potter's here."

Before Harry could do anything two older students grabbed his arms and hauled him to a chair where they pinned him down. Another older boy pushed a snake into his face and said, "We are going to teach you some pride in your house, Potter. It's not our job to go running after stray mud-bloods from the other houses. In Slytherin we look after our own. In order to prove you belong here you will have to kiss this snake."

"Kiss the snake, Potter," someone else yelled.

Harry was terrified. The snake hissed at him but he heard the words, " _What do you want human?"_

Harry looked the snake in the eye and said, _"Please_ _don't hurt me. They want me to kiss you."_

" _No,"_ the snake hissed. _"I do not want to be kissed."_

Harry took his eyes off the snake and looked at the boy holding it. Much to his surprise the boy looked scared. "The snake doesn't want me to kiss it," Harry managed to say.

"Ok. No problem." There was no doubt about it; the boy was scared.

Harry then realised the other two had released him. He looked back over his shoulder at one of the boys, a huge, hulking boy, and was surprised to see him step back. A muttering sound caught his attention. He turned just in time to see the snake disappear in a puff of smoke. Other than that, Harry now realised, there was complete silence; everybody was watching him and nobody was speaking.

Harry stood up and took a step towards the table on which the food had been placed. The students between him and the table moved out of his way. He hurried to the table, grabbed a couple of chicken legs and quickly walked towards the dormitories.

Harry sat on his bed, shaking slightly but chewing on the chicken as best he could. He didn't understand why everybody had reacted the way they did. Why were they all so hostile when he entered the Common Room and why were they scared after he talked to the snake? What could cause them to behave like that? The dormitory door opened, making him jump. Draco walked in holding a plate of food. Next, Crabbe entered carrying two plates of food and, right behind him, Goyle carrying a plate of food and a jug of pumpkin juice. Harry watched them warily.

"Potter," Draco began, "why didn't you tell us you were the heir of Slytherin?"

"The what?" Harry said. He saw Crabbe place a plate of food on his bed and move away.

"The heir of Slytherin," Draco sounded surprised. "You can talk to snakes; something Salazar Slytherin was famous for being able to do. That fact makes you his heir. Didn't you know that?"

"No," was all Harry could say.

"Eat up," Draco said, pointing to the plate on Harry's bed. Goyle placed a full tumbler of pumpkin juice on Harry's bedside table.

Harry began eating as Draco explained to him about the heir of Slytherin. Apparently being able to talk to snakes gave Harry a lot of power. He even claimed Harry could use his status to order the 7th years around. If he wanted it Harry could order any Slytherin student to do anything he wanted. If he wanted a servant he could select someone and that person would become his servant. If wanted help with his homework he could ask any student and that student would have to help him.

During this explanation Blaise and Theo entered the room. They added some bits of information to what Draco was saying and said the three senior pupils who had bullied Harry were now very afraid of what would happen to them. They echoed what Draco had said about Harry being able to order them around.

"So, Potter. What are you going to do now?" Draco asked after he had finished explaining the situation.

"I don't know," Harry replied.

"Good start," Theo put in. "Now those three will be worried for a while yet."

Crabbe and Goyle cleared away the plates and the empty jug while Harry tried to work out what to do next. He didn't believe that being able to talk to snakes gave him any special status but clearly many others felt it did. Finally he decided to sleep on it. He would try to figure things out in the morning.

 **Author's note:** Text in _italics_ is in Parseltongue.


	6. 6 The Rest of the Term

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter nor am I attempting to make any personal gain from this story.

 **Harry Slithers-in; Philosopher's Stone: Chapter 6: The Rest of the Term**

Harry woke up early the following morning, the events of the previous evening still very much on his mind. He was happy that today, the 1st of November, was a holiday in the wizarding world. November 1st or All Saints Day, older All Hallows Day, was an ancient celebration. Although there were different theories as to how the day came about the wizarding world generally gave it its ancient Celtic definition and, as such, treated it as a holiday. What made Harry happy was the fact that he didn't have classes to worry about – he could concentrate solely on sorting out the events of the previous evening. After showering and dressing he made his way to the Common Room to sit by the fire.

"Morning, Harry."

Harry started slightly – he hadn't expected anyone to be up so early. "Oh, Hello Tracey. You're up early."

"I was hoping you'd come down early. I would like to talk to you about some things, if you don't mind?"

Harry joined Tracey on the couch near the fire. He thought she may have slept there, judging from how she was dressed. "What would you like to talk about?"

"You know, as the heir of Slytherin, you have certain 'privileges'," Tracey said. "For example, if you say that half-bloods are to be treated the same as purebloods then you can make it so. I don't know if you've noticed this but the pure-bloods seem to think they are superior just because they have two wizarding parents."

"My parents were a witch and a wizard," Harry said.

"But your mother was muggle born. To the pure-bloods that makes you a half-blood. Haven't you noticed they seem to exclude you or leave you until last when choosing things?"

Now that Tracey had mentioned it he realised that indeed this had been happening. Right back on day one he'd been left with the bed closest to the ensuite. Whenever anyone needed the bathroom they had to pass his bed; something that, at times, was a bit annoying. He also remembered a few other cases like that. He nodded. "Now that you mention it I have noticed it a bit. I never really thought about it before now."

"I certainly have. Pansy especially looks down on me. And Millicent does whatever Pansy tells her to do while Beverly is just a snob. Apart from Daphne none of the girls treat me very well. If you, as the heir of Slytherin were to say that we half-bloods deserve the same respect as the pure-bloods it would make things a lot easier, wouldn't it?"

"I guess so," Harry said after a moment's thought.

"Thank-you, Harry. By the way, Pansy is after you. She mentioned something about lessons in wizarding etiquette."

Harry sighed. Admittedly, learning more about how wizards behaved and what their culture included would be a good thing. Having grown up with muggles he hadn't really had much grounding in the wizarding world. "That might not be too bad. I should learn as much as possible about modern wizard culture, I guess," he said.

"Anyway, I should get back to bed. It is still very early, and it is a holiday," Tracey said before heading up to the girl's dormitory.

Just as Tracey had predicted Pansy Parkinson cornered Harry later that morning. "Hello, Potter," she began. "I have decided you need to learn about etiquette between wizards. Sit down, I want to start straight away."

Harry sat down. "Before we start," he said, "shouldn't all people not raised in pureblood families be asked if they want to learn about etiquette?"

"You are the only student not raised in a wizarding home in this house. No-one else needs these lessons," Pansy replied. "First of all, it is appropriate to address a fellow wizard by their surname only. You only use first names with close friends. If you do not know the wizard but you know the family they are from you address them with the term Master or Miss as appropriate. You should call me Miss Parkinson, for example, unless you want to take the relationship one step further, of course."

Harry groaned. This was going to be a long day.

Pansy's lessons dragged on all day. Eventually Harry managed to convince her to invite all half-bloods to take part at which point he informed her and Draco and, through them, the rest of the house that half-bloods deserved the same status as pure-bloods. He wasn't entirely comfortable making such proclamations but no-one challenged him. He guessed that being the heir of Slytherin might not be such a bad thing after all.

The remainder of term passed largely without incident. Things had settled down in the Slytherin Common Room with most of the older students apparently happy Harry had decided not to throw his weight around so to speak. Half-bloods (about 2/5's of the students) were happy with their treatment while none of the pure-bloods refused to accept half-bloods as their equals. As there were no muggleborns in Slytherin and no-one from the other houses was aware of what had happened at Halloween there were no complaints from these people about how they were still being treated as inferiors.

Indeed, the only noteworthy event for the rest of the term was the first round of inter-house Quidditch matches. In the first match Slytherin were drawn against Gryffindor. Harry, like the rest of his housemates, donned green and silver robes and they carried house flags and banners into the stadium. Gryffindors were wearing scarlet and gold and Harry couldn't help noticing that most of the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs were also supporting Gryffindor. As he had never seen a Quidditch match before Harry put this out of his mind and concentrated on the game.

Slytherin were a more physical team than Gryffindor, probably largely due to there being no girls on the Slytherin team whereas all three Gryffindor chasers were girls. Gryffindor made up for their lack of physical strength, however, by having some very skilful players and after 20 minutes the score was even; 30 – 30. At this point Harry asked Draco, "What's that little golden thing over there?" he pointed to a spot not far from the Gryffindor goalposts below and behind where Wood, the Gryffindor keeper and captain, was stationed.

Draco followed Harry's point and gasped "That's the snitch. Higgs," he shouted. "Over there by the posts." Higgs, the Slytherin seeker, didn't hear him, instead turning toward the Slytherin posts. It was only when the Gryffindor seeker, O'Reilly, shot past him at high speed that Higgs finally turned around and saw the snitch but it was too late, O'Reilly had at huge head start and easily won the race to catch it giving Gryffindor a comfortable 180 – 30 win.

After the match they returned to the Common Room. The Slytherin captain, Marcus Flint, was less than impressed they had lost the game and everybody thought it a good idea to keep out of his way until he calmed down. Draco had told the others that Harry had seen the snitch before either seeker and had decided to tell Flint. This led to speculation that Harry might be a contender for the Quidditch team but Harry himself wasn't so sure. Since their next match wasn't until the week before Easter it wasn't really important for a decision to be made at this time anyway.

It was the next day that Flint approached Harry. "Do you have a moment, Potter?" he asked.

"Yeah, sure," Harry said.

"Malfoy told me you saw the snitch yesterday before either seeker. Is that true?"

"Yeah, although I didn't know what it was at the time. I just saw a flash of gold and asked him what it was."

"Well, I was wondering if you would like to trial for seeker after the Christmas holidays. I want to have the best possible team and I think you might be able to do the job for us. Malfoy said you were a pretty good flyer so I want to see for myself."

"Ok, I guess I could give it a go," Harry said.

"Right, I'll see you tomorrow morning a quick practice run," Flint said as he turned to leave.

"Go for it, Potter. I think you could be a really good player, if you put your mind to it," Draco said when Harry told him about Flint's invitation. Crabbe, Goyle, Nott and Zabini nodded in agreement.

Harry agreed to try out so next morning, before anyone else was awake, he followed Flint to the Quidditch pitch for a secret practice session. At the end Flint was satisfied Harry had the makings of a good seeker and began looking at ways to get around the rule about first years not being allowed a broom. He told Harry not to tell anyone of their plan in case Snape found out.

Early in December Harry was alone with Tracey when she told him, "You know, it's my birthday, soon. I will be 12 on the 12th of the 12th."

Harry took the hint but had no idea what to get her for her birthday. He decided to ask Daphne if she could help him. "I know exactly what you should get her," she said, producing a magazine and opening it to a page of adverts. "You should get her this." Daphne was pointing to an advert for cheap costume jewellery, specifically an earring and pendant set for 2 galleons, including postage. Harry thanked her for her help and ordered it straight away for delivery on December 12th, with a card attached.

December 12th was during the second last week of classes for the term, a period where most teachers were prepared to ease off on the workload and instead set assignments for completion over the holidays. As such Harry found himself with time to relax. He and Tracey walked around the lake in the evening enjoying each-others company away from the Common Room.

"Thank you for the pendant and earrings, Harry, that was a really nice gift," she said.

"I'm glad you liked them," Harry said. "Next up is Christmas in a couple of weeks' time. Is there anything in particular you would like?"

"Why don't you surprise me?" Tracey replied. "I've decided to stay her for Christmas, so has Robert, but I don't know if many other Slytherins will be staying. I know you're staying here, too. Wouldn't it be good if we had the Common Room largely to ourselves?"

"Yeah it would be, "Harry replied as they began heading back to the castle.

After classes on the final day of the term Harry decided to visit Hagrid. Tracey came along as usual and, again as usual, no-one else was interested. Earlier in the week Harry had heard a rumour that some Gryffindors (Weasleys) had opened the forbidden door on the third floor and that they had encountered a monster – a giant three headed dog and he was curious if Hagrid knew whether it was true or not.

"Hello, Hagrid," Harry called when they arrived.

"Hello, 'arry, Tracey. Classes finished fer th' term?"

"Yeah, three weeks with nothing to do but relax," Harry said.

They went inside and Hagrid made tea for them. After discussing different matters Harry asked; "I was wondering, do you know anything about a three headed dog in the castle?"

"How did yer find out abou' Fluffy?" Hagrid asked.

"Fluffy?" Tracey said, sounding surprised.

"Yeah, he's mine. I loaned him to Professor Dumbledore to guard the… tha's none o' yer business, forget I said that," Hagrid said, looking annoyed.

"Is Fluffy protecting that thing you took from Gringotts back on my birthday?" Harry offered.

"I said forget it. What that dog's guardin' is between Professor Dumbledore an' Nicolas Flamel… dammit, no more questions, off yer go." Hagrid seemed angrier with himself than with Harry.

As Harry and Tracey walked back to the castle they discussed what Hagrid had told them. Obviously whatever Fluffy was guarding was very rare, very valuable and/or very dangerous but, for the moment at least, they had only one new clue to work from. The question was: who is Nicolas Flamel and what did he have that was so important that it required that level of security?


	7. 7 Christmas at Hogwarts

**Here is the chapter 'Christmas at Hogwarts' published on Christmas day. Merry Christmas to all.**

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter nor am I attempting to make any personal gain from this story.

 **Harry Slithers-in; Philosopher's Stone: Chapter 7: Christmas at Hogwarts**

Harry was up early the following morning. His roommates were all leaving for the holidays and made so much noise Harry couldn't have slept in even if he'd wanted to. In fact he wanted to ask if any of them had heard of Nicolas Flamel. He knew the name was familiar but couldn't place it. He decided to ask Theo first.

"Theo? Can you help me with something?"

"Sure. What is it?" Theo replied.

"Have you heard of someone named Nicolas Flamel? The name's familiar but I can't place it," Harry asked him.

"Yeah, I think he was involved in some sort of research project years ago. Potions or something like that. Do you need any specific information?"

"Nothing specific, just something general about him," Harry said.

"Ok. When I get home I'll check some books. The library here could probably help, too. Ask Madam Pince about him," Theo said.

Draco and Blaise had listened to the conversation but were unable to offer any further advice.

After breakfast the first years who were going home for the holidays were taken back to the docks under the castle where they rode the boats across the lake. Harry noticed the older students were boarding a number of apparently self-propelled carriages that were lined up outside the castle, clearly only first years had to cross the lake while the older years had a much more comfortable means of transportation at their disposal.

When Harry returned to the Common Room he noted there were only eight other students left. The only ones he knew were Tracey and Robert who was with a group of older students. Tracey was sitting alone reading a magazine so he joined her. The magazine was called Witch Weekly and, reading over her shoulder, he realised it was much like muggle gossip magazines. He decided to read his potions textbook, wondering if it might help him try to identify what Nicolas Flamel might have done.

"Do you have any idea who Nicolas Flamel is?" Tracey asked him after she finished the magazine.

"No," Harry admitted. "I know I've heard the name but I can't remember where. Do you have any idea?"

"No. Pansy suggested I look in the library but I think that might be a bad idea. Madam Pince might realise what we are doing," Tracey said. Harry had also thought of this problem and hadn't taken Theo's advice for that reason.

He had already finished most of his Christmas shopping but Draco was proving more difficult than expected. Draco seemed to already have everything he needed or could reasonably want including an overabundance of sweets. Eventually Harry settled on a new quill and ink set. With that resolved Harry was able to make a start on his assignments. With luck he could hopefully have them finished by New Year thus leaving him a week with nothing to do afterwards.

Since Harry was the only first year Slytherin boy staying for Christmas he had the dormitory to himself. Deciding not to change anything from his normal routine he went to bed at the usual time and, in the morning, woke up at the usual time and went to use the shower when a voice made him jump. "Morning, Harry."

"Tracey! What the hell…"

Tracey Davis climbed out of the bed next to his wearing pink pyjamas. "Well," she began; "since you are the only first year boy and I am the only first year girl staying over and boys can't get into the girl's dormitory, I thought I'd come join you. Whose bed am I sleeping in, by the way?"

"That's Blaise's," Harry replied, his heart rate having now returned to normal.

"Do you mind me sleeping in here?"

"Not really, although what about your brother and the other students? Won't they object?"

"Only if they find out, and I'm certainly not going to tell them; are you?"

"No. I'd get in at least as much trouble as you would. I was about to have a shower so if you don't mind?"

"I guess I should go back to the girls' dorms for a shower rather than stay here. Although, if they are separate cubicles, it won't really matter anyway," Tracey said.

"There are two separate cubicles in there and the walls go all the way from the floor to the ceiling and the doors lock from the inside. I guess it might be ok if you stay here for your shower."

That was all the invitation Tracey needed. Picking up a small bag of clothes she approached the door to the bathroom. "Which one would you prefer to use?" she asked from the doorway.

"Doesn't really matter. Go ahead."

Harry was a little uncomfortable with the arrangements but decided just to ignore it and hope nobody found out about Tracey sleeping in his room. As it was nobody even noticed her there that morning, even her brother seemed unaware of what was happening, something Harry was very happy about.

Christmas Eve was a quiet day in the Common Room. Harry and Tracey had finished most of their assignments and were relaxing with some older students. Robert was trying to teach Harry wizard chess but Harry was struggling. Draco had tried teaching him earlier in the year but without much success. Eventually Harry decided on an early night thinking tomorrow would, if nothing else, allow plenty of opportunity for fun and food, although he really wasn't expecting much in the way of presents. Tracey would be sleeping in her own dormitory tonight since that was where her presents would be delivered so Harry had the room to himself for the first time since he had started at Hogwarts.

When Harry woke up he saw a large pile of presents at the foot of his bed. Most of the presents were large, bulky and soft. The first one he opened was from Tracey and he was surprised to see it contained clothes. A check through the remainder showed that most of them were clothes. It appeared as though Tracey, along with Draco, Theo, Blaise, Daphne and even Pansy had coordinated their gifts to ensure he received a brand new wardrobe. He was about to open his other presents when there was a knock at the door.

"Come in," he called. Tracey entered the room with some of her own presents.

"Merry Christmas. What do you think of your new wardrobe?" she asked.

"Thanks. I was a bit surprised, though. It looks as if you've all been plotting behind my back." Harry had just opened a present from Tracey's brother and found it contained more clothes.

"We did. Draco got your sizes for us and we then worked out who would get you what. Pansy Parkinson and Robert both joined us after we'd allotted presents but we were able to add them in without any problems."

At this point there was another knock on the door and Robert entered. "Morning, Potter; morning sis; Merry Christmas," he said.

"Good morning. Tracey was just explaining the presents to me," Harry said.

"Well, it was her idea originally. What do you think of them?"

"They will be useful, and I certainly did not expect something like this. Thank you for the surprise."

"Put some of your new clothes on," Tracey said. "I'll wait for you in the Common Room."

Tracey and Robert left while Harry decided what to wear. After dressing he opened the rest of his presents, a small parcel from the Dursleys that contained a single 50p coin, a hand carved wooden flute from Hagrid and a larger present which he at first thought was more clothing but which turned out to contain a silvery cloak that was as light as a feather and seemed to shimmer in the lamplight. As he examined the cloak he spotted a note that had fallen from the package. It read; _'Your father left this in my possession before he died. It is time it was returned to you. Use it well. A Very Merry Christmas to you.'_ There was no signature.

Putting the cloak away for now Harry joined his housemates in the Common Room. He was the last Slytherin to arrive and when he entered everybody else was discussing their presents. Gemma Farley, the only Slytherin prefect staying over Christmas addressed the group when Harry arrived. "Now that we're all here let's go have a feast for breakfast."

All the Slytherins walked together to the Great Hall and sat around their usual table, although students from the other houses seemed to be mingling together rather than staying their own tables. The same thing happened at lunchtime too.

Christmas lunch was a feast to be reckoned with. There was far too much food considering there were less than 50 people in the Hall but it all seemed to disappear remarkably quickly. Harry tried everything, not wanting to miss out on even the smallest items. Scattered along the tables were enormous Christmas Crackers. The first time Harry pulled one it exploded with a sound like a cannon, startling Harry much to the amusement of his housemates. The crackers contained a number of items which seemed too big to have been inside them. Harry assumed it was more magic and forgot about it while examining his new treasures which included his own Wizard Chess set and flowery bonnet which he tried to give to Tracey but which she refused to accept. Harry decided against putting it on himself and set it aside for later.

When they returned to the Common Room Harry saw Tracey standing near a sprig of mistletoe. As he approached her she moved to a position directly under it and smiled at him. He took the hint and joined her, leaning in to give her a kiss on the cheek but she turned her head and kissed him on the lips. After a few seconds Robert said "Ok guys, break it up." Several people laughed as Harry stepped away from her.

The rest of Christmas was spent either having a snowball fight or sitting in front of the Common room fire trying to keep warm and dry. After an evening meal consisting of leftovers from dinner Harry sat with Tracey playing wizard chess. He was distracted and kept on losing, a fact which she noticed early on. After all the others had gone up to bed he explained his distraction to her.

"After you and Robert left my room this morning I opened the rest of my presents," he began. "One of them contained a really odd looking cloak. It came with an anonymous note saying it used to belong to my father."

"Should we go and have a look at it?" she asked.

"Yeah. Let's go. Everybody else should be asleep soon so I doubt anyone will notice. I think you should sleep in your own dorm tonight, though, just in case." Tracey agreed.

In the room Harry picked up the cloak to show her. "Try it on," she suggested. "I want to see how it fits you." Harry pulled the cloak on and Tracey gasped. "Harry, look at yourself."

Harry looked down. "Hey. What happened to my body?" He looked in a mirror and could only see his head floating in mid-air.

"Harry. That's an invisibility cloak. Pull the hood up." Tracey sounded as if she was in awe.

Harry pulled the hood over his head. Now he had no reflection at all in the mirror. He turned back to Tracey and watched the expression on her face. He couldn't help laughing.

"Sorry, but you should look at yourself. It really does look funny," he explained.

"Wow, that's incredible. You could go anywhere you want with that on and nobody would know you were there," she said. "Just think of all the pranks you could play on people you don't like. I really should go back to my dorm. It is getting late and I am tired. We'll talk more in the morning. If you like, you can tell me what you did with that cloak, too. I doubt you'll just put it in your trunk, after all."

Harry thought about what Tracey had said. She was right; it would be a shame to not use his new cloak. He decide he would go to the library and try to find information on Nicolas Flamel but, before that, he wanted to do some exploring. Now that the whole castle was at his disposal he wanted to learn as much about it as possible. There were bound to be secret tunnels and other unusual features built into a castle as big and as old as Hogwarts was and he was determined to find them.


	8. 8 The Mirror of Erised

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter nor am I attempting to make any personal gain from this story.

 **Harry Slithers-in; Philosopher's Stone: Chapter 8: The Mirror of Erised**

Harry donned the cloak and slipped through the Common Room and out into the corridor. Quickly he made his way back to the Main Entrance before walking down a narrow corridor he knew led to the Hufflepuff Common Room. He had seen the Hufflepuffs coming through here since the beginning of the year. The corridor sloped downhill and turned a couple of corners and soon he realised he must be under the Great Hall. The pictures along the walls showed food so he guessed the entrance to the kitchens must be hidden nearby. A quick search failed to reveal a door, however, so he returned to the Entrance Hall.

Ascending the marble staircase he entered the upper levels of the castle. He already knew how to get to the library and classrooms so he wandered around trying to find some shortcuts. He discovered several and decided to share this knowledge with his housemates when they returned.

After nearly an hour of aimless wandering he went into the library. He decided to try and get into the Restricted Section guessing that, with nobody there, it would be easy to sneak in and read the advanced books it contained. He thought some of them might have information on Nicolas Flamel that might not be available anywhere else.

In the restricted section he picked up a large, heavy book that looked as if it might be useful and opened it. Instantly the book started screaming like a banshee. He shoved it back on the shelf but it continued to scream so he pulled the cloak back on and ran for the door, skidding to a halt when the caretaker, Argus Filch, burst in ahead of him. "Where are you? I know someone's here," Filch said. Mrs. Norris, Filches cat, pushed past Filch, sniffing the air. "Sniff 'em out my dear. Find 'em for me." Filch was speaking to the cat.

Harry ran. In only a few minutes he was lost but he was just as sure that Filch couldn't find him either. He stopped to regain his breath but almost immediately heard Filch again. "You asked me to tell if anybody was out of bounds, professor. A student was just in the library's restricted section," he said.

"Restricted Section? Don't worry. I'm sure they will be caught, sooner or later." It was Professor Snape who replied.

Harry stepped back, pushing open a door behind him and squeezing through the narrowest of gaps. It took him a few moments to recover his breath and then he looked around. It appeared to be a disused classroom. Tables and chairs were stacked against one wall but what caught his attention was an ornate mirror standing in the middle of the room. Cautiously, he approached it. Around the glass was a phrase that made no sense. It read; 'Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi.'

As he tried to figure out what it meant he glanced into the mirror. He slapped his hand over his mouth to stifle a yell. In the mirror he could see about a dozen people, all standing around him. He spun around but there was nobody there. He thought briefly if there were other people wearing invisibility cloaks in the room but soon realised that couldn't be right. He turned back to the mirror and looked more closely at the people. The two closest to him were a man and a woman. The man looked almost identical to Harry except for his eyes. The woman had his eyes and long red hair. Recognition came to him. These were his parents.

"Mum, dad?" The two people smiled. The rest of the people must be other relatives but he guessed they might all be dead since he had no family he knew of in the Wizarding world. A check through family records that Daphne had helped him with had proved that. He felt happy and sad at the same time. He felt he could stay there forever but a sudden noise made him jump. With one last glance at the mirror he promised to return before leaving the room.

It took him half an hour to find his way back to the Common Room and from there he went straight to bed. Harry couldn't help thinking about what he'd seen in the mirror. His aunt hadn't kept any photos of Harry's parents in the house so he had never seen them before but he knew what they looked like from what other people had told him. The mirror had shown him their actual appearances for the first time.

Next morning Harry told Tracey what had happened. "I don't know exactly what the mirror does but it showed me my family. I was wondering if that is what it does for everybody," he told her.

"Are you going back tonight?" she asked.

"Yeah. Would you like to come along?"

"I suppose so, although we still need to find out who Nicolas Flamel is. That should be our main aim now we've finished all our assignments," Tracey said.

Harry tried to keep his mind from the mirror for the rest of the day but he was continually distracted. Several older students noted his distraction and asked what was wrong but he just said it was a personal matter.

That night Harry met Tracey in the Common Room and, after ensuring the cloak would cover both of them, set off for the room with the mirror. It took them about 20 minutes to find it but, apart from running into Peeves who was having 'fun' rattling suits of armour, they met no-one. After they had left that corridor behind them they heard Filch yelling at Peeves, with him distracted it was easier to move about the castle than they had expected.

After entering the room Harry removed the cloak and stepped in front of the mirror. "There, see? My whole family is standing in a group together around me," he told Tracey.

"I only see you," she replied.

"Here, stand where I am," he said, stepping out of the way.

Tracey moved to where he had been and looked intently at the mirror. "I only see myself, standing alone above a group of people," she said. "It looks like I'm standing on Pansy Parkinson's shoulders, like that would ever happen."

Harry moved to stand next to her. Looking into the mirror he could only see himself and Tracey. "I can't see my family anymore, either. Maybe it shows only one person at a time what they want to see?" he said sounding sad.

Tracey stepped away from the mirror, leaving Harry in front of it alone. She realised he looked upset so she moved right next to him while focussing on the words around the mirror's edge. Harry slipped his arm around her waist and she responded similarly. After a few moments she exclaimed, "Harry. Read the writing around the edge, read it backwards."

Harry looked. After a second he gasped. "Hang on. Read backwards it says 'I show not your face but your heart's desire.' How did you figure that out?"

"It's a mirror," Tracey explained. "It reflects everything in it backwards left to right so I started at the right and read to the left."

"A very fine deduction, Miss Davis. I am impressed."

Harry stiffened in shock. Next to him he felt Tracey jump as well. They both turned around to find themselves face to face with Professor Dumbledore who was sitting on a desk across the room from them.

"I didn't see you, sir," Harry said.

"Nor I," Tracey said.

"It really is quite remarkable how being invisible makes one so short-sighted," Dumbledore said, smiling benignly at the two first years.

"Sorry sir. We shouldn't be out this late," Harry said.

"Miss Davis, I must credit you on your logic in so quickly realising how the Mirror of Erised works. Many older, wiser people have wasted away in front of it, trying to figure out if what they see is real or even possible. You solved the riddle in a matter of minutes, a very commendable effort. To realise what the mirror does so quickly is outstanding, especially for someone as young as yourself.

"To explain more fully what you see. Harry, you see yourself with a loving family, something you have no memory of while Tracey, you see yourself as superior to or, at the very least, as an equal with people who have often looked down on you."

"Does that mean the mirror shows us whatever we want to see?" asked Harry.

"Not quite. You see, the Mirror of Erised shows you the thing you want more than anything else in the whole world. But one must remember to live in the real world and not to become absorbed in the fantasies of one's mind.

"I am going to have the mirror moved tonight and I must ask you not to go looking for it. If you do indeed find it again you will know what to do and how to handle it. Now, I would recommend you both cover yourselves with that wondrous cloak and return to your Common Room, before someone else finds you here," Dumbledore said.

"Good night sir," Harry said as he placed the cloak over himself and Tracey.

"Good night, Professor Dumbledore," Tracey added as they left the room.

After a quick and silent walk back to the Slytherin Common Room Harry took the cloak from around Tracey's shoulders and headed for his dormitory. Tracey picked up a small bag she had left by one of the couches and followed Harry to the boys' dorm. Harry sat on his bed, thinking about what had just happened. He glanced at Tracey, now sitting on Blaise's bed and untying her shoe laces. He realised she intended spending the night with him again. Previously she had always gone into the bathroom to change but it seemed she wasn't going to bother this time.

Turning away, Harry carefully folded the cloak and placed it in his trunk. A number of surprising things had happened in the last half hour or so; Dumbledore had shown no surprise at Harry having an invisibility cloak. Dumbledore had caught them out of bounds at 1-30 in the morning but had let them off with a warning rather than a detention and had then explained about the mirror. Harry was not supposed to go looking for it but clearly Dumbledore expected him to find it again. He decided to ask Tracey first what she thought about the cloak.

"Tracey? Did you find it surprising that Dumbledore didn't say anything about my invisibility cloak?"

"Yeah. I've been thinking about that, amongst other things that happened tonight. That note that came with it was unsigned, wasn't it?"

"Yeah. That's why I was thinking that maybe Dumbledore gave me the cloak. I don't know how well he knew my parents or why they would trust him with something like that, though."

"Do you want to talk to him sometime? He could probably answer a lot of your questions about your family."

"Yeah. That might be a good idea. What else were you thinking about?" Harry turned to face her as he was speaking and was surprised by what he saw.

"Dumbledore explained about the mirror and told us not to go looking for it but it sounded like he expects us to find it again. Any idea why?"

"No idea," Harry replied. "Anything else?"

"He let us off with a warning when he probably should have given us detentions. We did break school rules after all." Tracey still had her back to Harry and didn't notice him watching her.

"It is school holidays. Maybe the rules don't apply, at least not as strictly. This is, what, the fifth night you've spent in my dormitory after all."

"Yeah. Maybe?" Tracey turned around holding her pyjama bottoms and realised Harry was watching her. Dropping her hands to her sides she asked, "Enjoying the view?"

"Ar, yeah," Harry replied, looking her in the face and trying not to look too embarrassed.

"I should hope so, too." Tracey turned around and finished dressing for bed. Harry could see her smiling as she did. Clearly she wasn't at all embarrassed about him watching her.


	9. The Philosopher's Stone

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter nor am I attempting to make any personal gain from this story.

 **Harry Slithers-in; Philosopher's Stone: Chapter 9: The Philosopher's Stone**

That was the last night Tracey slept in Harry's dormitory. Although clearly not embarrassed with Harry watching her getting changed she had decided from now on she would stay in her own room.

Tracey and Robert were leaving on New Year's Eve for a family gathering and would return with the rest of the students when classes started back up. Although feeling a little lonely with their absence Harry still thought he had things he could do that might help him identify Nicolas Flamel so he began visiting the library daily.

He started by going through the potions section as per Theo's suggestion but found nothing relevant so he expanded the search. It was while he was doing this he met Ron Weasley's twin brothers Fred and George. "Oh look, Gred, it's little Potter," one of them said.

"So it is Forge, so it is," he other replied.

Harry thought about what they had said before saying, "You must be George," pointing to the first one, "and you must be Fred," pointing to second twin.

"How did you know?" asked Fred.

"It wasn't difficult. Clearly you must have swapped jerseys before you came here so I decided the one wearing the 'F' must be George and the one wearing the 'G' must be Fred. When you spoke to me you confirmed it by the way you addressed each other," Harry explained.

"There's no doubt," George,

"He's clearly smarter," Fred.

"Than we thought," George.

"I don't suppose either of you has heard of someone named Nicolas Flamel?" Harry asked.

"No," both said together.

"Well, in that case, if you don't mind I have some research to do," Harry said, turning back to his book.

The twins sat down, however. "I don't recall the name Nicolas Flamel from our own first year," Fred.

"What subject are you reading up on?" George.

"It's not course related. I've already finished all my holiday assignments so I'm doing some background reading on names that have come up at different times, trying to find out more about these people."

"You sound like Hermione Granger," Fred.

"Reading up on things not course related," George.

"By the way," Fred.

"Thank you for helping Ron," George.

"Rescue Granger from the troll," Fred.

"Ron won't admit it," George.

"But he needs her help," Fred.

"If he wants to pass," George.

"Ok then. Thank you for telling me that," Harry said. The twins left.

Harry spent the rest of his holidays searching for information about Flamel but without much success. The answer came in an unexpected way. The day the other students returned to Hogwarts from their Christmas break Daphne gave Harry a stack of chocolate frog cards. Daphne didn't collect them herself and these were all surplus cards her sister Astoria had collected. Harry found three cards he didn't have so he replaced these with three cards he had duplicates of which were not in the stack he had received. He would send Hedwig to Astoria with the remaining cards that evening. It was while he was looking over the new cards he found one of Dumbledore and, while reading the back, he found Nicolas Flamel's name.

"Tracey. Come look at this," Harry called.

When Tracey joined him showed her the card and said, "I found Flamel."

She read the card and said, "So that's where we'd heard the name before. We should have been looking in alchemy, not potions."

"Right. I wonder if there are any books on alchemy here? It's not a subject studied at Hogwarts."

"Hey Potter," Theo called as he walked past.

"Hey Nott. Have a good holiday?"

"Not bad, yeah," Theo replied. "Hey, I tried looking for information about that Flamel guy but couldn't find anything really important, just that he is an alchemist. I checked a couple of books on alchemy but it seems he hasn't done anything important recently."

"That's ok. Daphne solved the problem for me. Flamel and Dumbledore worked together in alchemical studies. From what you told me now that must have been before Dumbledore started teaching here."

"Ah. That explains why there is no recent information. Dumbledore's been here for over 50 years," Theo said before going to his dormitory.

"So we will need to start looking through records of alchemical discoveries from over 50 years ago, if we want to figure out what Fluffy is guarding," Tracey said.

"That can wait," Harry said. "I just want to enjoy the last day of the holidays."

Settling back into the school routine proved easy and enjoyable, especially when they heard Ron Weasley had been given a detention for not finishing his assignments. Apparently he had left them all to the last minute and then discovered he didn't have the time to finish them. Harry had, of course, finished his assignments several days ago and needed only a quick review to make sure he hadn't made any silly mistakes before handing them in.

A couple of weeks later Harry and the other 1st year boys were in the library getting some extra information for a transfiguration assignment when he noticed Hermione Granger sitting alone reading a particularly large book. Curious, he went over and saw it was a book on famous witches and wizards.

"Hello, Granger," he said.

"What do you want, Potter?" Hermione asked.

"I was just wondering about that book you're reading. Is it a library book?"

"Yes it is, why?"

"I would like to do some extra background reading myself. Since it's a library book I'll place it on backorder so I can read it when you've finished with it. I was thinking it might have some information about some of my relatives that I don't already have." That last bit was a lie; what he really wanted was a reference book that might have information on Nicolas Flamel.

"There is some information on someone named Potter," she said. "I suppose that could be a distant relative. I haven't issued this book so, if you want it, I'll give it to you later this afternoon, assuming you're still here."

"Thank you for that. I should still here for a couple of hours at least," Harry said before returning to his housemates.

"What was that about, Potter," Blaise asked.

"That book Granger is reading may be exactly what I'm looking for as a source of information on Nicolas Flamel," Harry explained. "Besides, she did say my family is mentioned in it so it can't hurt to learn about them, either."

"That makes sense," Draco said. "I would recommend you wear gloves while reading it though."

"Why?" asked Harry.

"No reason," Draco said, shrugging.

Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle had all left the library by the time Hermione brought the book to Harry. Blaise and Theo ignored her as she dropped off the book but Harry thanked her and began reading the contents list immediately. He turned first to the Potter name and learnt that his family was not considered to be old. Apparently they had acquired most of their wealth during the first part of the 20th century whereas most of the older 'name' families dated back to the time of William the Conqueror.

He checked the book out and returned with Blaise and Theo to the Common Room where he settled back into reading it. It only took him a few minutes to find Nicolas Flamel's name and that was when he discovered the secret of the object Fluffy was guarding. He called Tracey over.

"I've found out what Fluffy is guarding," he said when she sat down next to him. "It is Nicolas Flamel's Philosopher's Stone."

"Can I see that?" she asked. Theo, too, was now paying close attention and moved to read over Tracey's shoulder.

"The Philosopher's stone is used to convert base metals into gold and can be used to make something called the Elixir of Life. Drinking it supposedly makes you immortal," Harry explained.

"Unlimited wealth, and an unlimited life to enjoy it," Theo said. "I want to steal it now. Just think of what you could do with something like that."

"Unlimited wealth, yeah," Tracey said. "Think of all the good you could do. Solve poverty worldwide, restore all sorts of famous buildings. I don't know about never being able to die, though. I'm not sure that would be such a good thing."

"I don't know," Harry said. "If you could turn lead into gold all the time, wouldn't it eventually result in gold becoming as worthless as lead? What good is that? And never dying wouldn't be as good as it sounds. What if you had an accident that left you crippled? I doubt even a Philosopher's Stone could heal injuries like that."

"Now that you mention it, yeah. I've changed my mind. I wouldn't want a Philosopher's Stone," Theo said.

"Somebody does want to steal it, though," Harry said. "I guess having it for a short time might be useful in some circumstances, if you needed money or something like that in a hurry. The question is: who wants to steal it and why?"

Harry was now realising that discovering what Fluffy was guarding wasn't going to be the end he had hoped for. Solving one mystery had just led them to another, related mystery.

{}{}{}

Early in the term Flint, the Slytherin Quidditch captain, had told Harry they had found a way around the rule that first years weren't allowed their own broom. A former Slytherin Quidditch player who was now playing professionally had allowed Flint to borrow his old broom and Flint had then loaned it to Harry who was now riding it during their secret training sessions. As far as they knew nobody outside Slytherin had any idea Harry was a member of the Quidditch team. Indeed, even Snape was unaware of this fact so when they came out to face Ravenclaw in their second match there were a lot of surprised people in the crowd.

"Welcome to today's match between Ravenclaw and Slytherin," began Lee Jordan, a Gryffindor student who always commentated on Hogwarts Quidditch matches. "Ravenclaw have the same team which comfortably defeated Hufflepuff in the first round while it appears Slytherin have made a surprise late change to their line-up. That looks like Harry Potter playing seeker for the snakes."

Cries of surprise could heard from the stands while Professor Snape looked angrier than ever.

Harry guessed that, if they lost, there would be serious repercussions for everybody on the team, especially him.

Harry flew high into the sky and looked down on the game. Ravenclaw were a strong combination and quickly surged into the lead. Slytherin played well and were able to remain in touch with them while Harry desperately tried to find the snitch. After about 20 minutes, with Ravenclaw leading 60 – 20, he saw the snitch near the ground almost directly below him. Diving nearly vertically he shot towards it, the wind whistling in his ears. Halfway through the dive he began spiralling, trying to anticipate which way the snitch would go next. About 10 feet above it he made his decision, pulling out of the dive and heading almost directly toward the Slytherin posts. A quick flick to the right, a lunge and a grab and Harry caught it just a foot from the ground. As he did so he overbalanced and fell off, landing in a tangled heap on the ground after rolling a couple of times. Slytherin had won 170 – 60, a result that left them with a good chance of winning the Quidditch cup.

Harry was right, Snape was furious. As soon as the team left the changing rooms Snape ordered them to his office.

"Flint," Snape began in a deathly whisper, "kindly explain why Potter is on the team."

"Professor Snape, as Slytherin Quidditch captain I endeavour to put the best possible team on the field. After our loss to Gryffindor I felt we needed a new seeker so I held trials for anyone interested. Potter took part in those trials and I decided he was the best man for the job," Flint explained.

"Potter," Snape snapped. "Where did you obtain a broom?"

"Flint loaned it to me. It belongs to a friend of his."

"Is this true, Flint?" Snape demanded.

"Yes sir. As you can see no rules have been broken, and we did win," Flint replied.

"I am aware of that. This one time only I shall overlook your indiscretion. Be aware, however, if Potter plays in the match against Hufflepuff and we lose you will be dismissed as Quidditch captain. Understand?"

"Yes sir," Flint replied.

"Return to the Common Room and try not to make too much noise and mess at the after match party." As they left the office Harry almost got the impression Snape was smiling.


	10. 10 Norbert and Fluffy

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter nor am I attempting to make any personal gain from this story.

 **Harry Slithers-in; Philosopher's Stone: Chapter 10: Norbert and Fluffy**

Most students stayed at Hogwarts over Easter. Harry followed the same pattern as over Christmas, finishing all his assignments in the first week and relaxing with his friends over the second week. His closest friends were Blaise and Theo while Tracey was always hanging around as well. The others were beginning to think of Harry and Tracey as a couple which, of course, they were.

He wasn't quite certain exactly when this had happened and guessed it was just something that had always been there. Tracey was a bright, outgoing girl but she never tried dictating to Harry, although he had noticed himself she usually got her way eventually. Since generally her suggestions were good and well thought out he was happy to follow her lead, although Draco in particular had taken to reminding him about their conversation back in the first week of the first term about Tracey being almost his master.

"Draco," Harry finally said, "Tracey is not my master. I admit she comes up with a lot of ideas but I only bring them up after I have considered them myself. I don't do everything she says."

"All the same, when did you last come up with an idea that was wholly your own?" Draco asked.

This stumped Harry. Finally he decided Draco did have a point; he did seem to follow Tracey's lead with a lot of things. He decided to be more independent in future, spending more time with the boys and less with the girls.

It was early in the third term when Harry, Theo and Blaise were in the library finishing off some assignments when they were interrupted by Hagrid. "'ello Harry, how are yeh?" Hagrid asked.

"Fine. I've got some assignments to finish but nothing I can't handle. Why are you here Hagrid?"

"Jus' lookin' fer some books, yeh know."

After Hagrid had left Theo asked "What do you think he's really doing?"

"Don't know. Why don't we see what he was looking at just now?" Harry replied.

He and Theo went to the area Hagrid had been in and discovered it was mainly books on dragons. While they were there Ron Weasley arrived. "Potter, Nott. Why are you looking at books on dragons?" he asked.

"They look interesting," Theo replied. "Why are you here?"

"Just curious," Weasley replied before returning to a table where several other Gryffindors, including Hermione Granger, were sitting.

"That's suspicious," Theo said to Harry. "Weasley in a library and apparently studying."

"Not as suspicious as Hagrid in a library looking for books on dragons," Harry replied as they returned to the table. They told Blaise what they had seen and he agreed Hagrid's actions were unusual.

Friday afternoon Harry decided to visit Hagrid to try and find out what he had been doing in the library. As usual Tracey was the only one who wanted to accompany him so the two of them left together straight after lunch. As they approached the cabin they were surprised to see smoke from the chimney and that all the curtains were drawn, even though it was a hot day. Harry knocked on the door.

"Oh hello Harry. I'm kinda busy at the moment. Things to do an' all," Hagrid replied.

"We were just wondering what you were doing reading up on dragons. And why is the fire lit when it's so hot outside?" the heat coming from Hagrid's cabin was quite intense.

"Alrigh', come in, but don' expect many answers," Hagrid said.

It really was hot and dark inside. "Hagrid," Tracey began, "can we open a window, please?"

"Er, no, not jus' now," Hagrid replied. "Would like a cup o' tea?"

"No thanks. I'm warm enough already," she said.

Harry, meanwhile, was looking at the fire place. "Hagrid? What is that in there? It looks like a giant egg."

"Tha's not important," Hagrid said evasively. "How are yer subjects goin'?"

"Pretty well," Harry replied.

"Hagrid? Isn't that a dragon egg?" Tracey, who had approached the fireplace, looked shocked.

"Er, yeah it is. Tha's not important, though. How are your classes goin', Tracey?"

"I'm doing ok but dragon eggs are illegal in Britain. Didn't you know that?" she answered.

"How did you get it?" Harry asked.

"I won it off a bloke in a pub. He told me it was a Norwegian Ridgeback. They're really rare."

"What did this person look like?" asked Harry.

"Dunno. He kept his hood up the whole time. Tha's not that unusual at the Hogs Head," Hagrid added when he saw the expressions on the student's faces.

Since it was so hot inside Harry and Tracey decided to leave. As they walked back to the castle they discussed what Hagrid had said. Tracey explained about the ban on dragon breeding and that it was illegal to possess a dragon's egg off a designated preserve without permission from the Ministry of Magic. Since it was to say the least unlikely Hagrid had obtained such permission she felt they needed to see Dumbledore about it. Harry disagreed; he felt as long as it didn't hurt anyone they should just let it be. He added Hagrid had told him he'd always wanted a dragon and, now that he had one, he might realise just how difficult it would be. Eventually everyone would find out anyway so he saw no need to push the matter. Reluctantly, Tracey agreed with him, deciding not to do anything as long as no-one got hurt.

It didn't take them lone to realise they weren't the only students who knew about the dragon egg. Over the weekend they noticed Weasley and Granger heading to Hagrid's cabin. Clearly they knew about it too. Over the next week or so Harry and Tracey took turns watching Hagrid and the Gryffindors who were visiting almost daily. They realised the egg must be hatching when Weasley and Granger headed to the cabin during morning break, something they had never done before. Harry was planning on going as well when they saw Draco approach the cabin right behind the Gryffindors. They decided to wait.

That evening in the Common Room Harry asked Draco, "Why did you go to Hagrid's cabin this morning?"

"I was following Weasley. Hagrid will be in so much trouble when everybody finds out what he's doing," Malfoy replied.

"Has the egg hatched?" Harry asked.

Draco turned to him in shock. "You know about it?"

"Yeah. It's a Norwegian Ridgeback. I am aware of what he's doing and I think he's an idiot for doing it but, as long as it doesn't hurt anyone, I'm going to let it go," Harry said.

Several days later they found out Ron Weasley was in the hospital wing. They didn't know what had happened but it was a safe bet it was dragon related. Draco confirmed this after visiting Weasley to ask if he could borrow a book which he then showed to Harry. In the book was a note. Apparently the dragon was to be moved secretly later that night. Draco intended catching the Gryffindors in the act but Harry moved first. He sent an anonymous note to Dumbledore using a school owl telling the Headmaster everything. When he told Tracey she agreed wholeheartedly with his decision.

Next morning Harry awoke to an angry Draco Malfoy. "I can't believe it," Malfoy growled. "I went out to catch those Gryffindor scum with a dragon but, not only did I get caught, but then I find out that Dumbledore knew about it already and was helping them move it.'

"Dumbledore know?" Harry said, acting surprised.

"There was a dragon in the castle?" Theo asked.

"You knew about it, Potter?" Blaise added.

"Yeah," Malfoy said. "Hagrid had a dragon, Potter knew about it as did I and, as it turns out, so did Dumbledore. I got a detention and those Gryffindors got a reward, well Granger did anyway, Weasley's in the hospital wing. I hope it's serious."

Harry knew what must have happened. Malfoy knew the dragon was being moved that night and had decided to try and have the Gryffindors caught out of bounds but had himself been caught. Harry didn't really feel sorry for him since it was his own fault. At least it hadn't cost them too many house points.

The next Friday Harry visited Hagrid. "Come in, Harry," Hagrid said.

"Why do you look so unhappy?" Harry asked.

"Yer know they took Norbert don' yer?"

"Norbert? Is that the dragon?"

"Yeah. Dumbledore came down and said sending 'im ter the dragon habitat in Romania was the best thing for it but I dunno. What if he's unhappy there?"

"He's a dragon. I'm sure he will be well looked after. Besides, you've still got Fluffy." Harry tried to put a positive spin on the situation.

"Don' you go on abou' Fluffy," Hagrid growled. "Yeh already know too much.'

"I know Fluffy is guarding Nicolas Flamel's Philosophers Stone."

"How did yeh find tha' out?" Hagrid seemed angry suddenly.

"It's on a chocolate frog card," Harry explained. Hagrid huffed. "I was wondering, something so valuable must be well protected."

"It is. Several teachers helped out. All the heads o' house, an' Quirrell. You don' need to worry about it. Now go on, off yer go." With that Harry left Hagrid's cabin.

Several nights later Malfoy left the Common Room to do his detention. Harry thought it unusual that a detention would take place at night and wondered what he was doing. He intended to ask Malfoy in the morning but, in the event, Malfoy woke everybody up when he came running into the dormitory at 2-30 am. "There's some kind of blood sucking monster in the forest." Malfoy was clearly very afraid of what he had encountered.

"What do you mean? A vampire?" Theo asked.

"Whatever it was, it was drinking unicorn blood, and a centaur said only someone with nothing to lose would kill a unicorn," Malfoy explained.

"Centaur?" Harry was surprised to hear that.

"I am never going into that forest again. I don't care what might happen to me by refusing, but I'll take that over death." That was the end of the conversation.

Harry told Tracey everything Malfoy had said. She already knew of Harry's conversation with Hagrid and this new information made her wonder if this monster might be after the stone. Quickly they realised the two were connected and Harry wondered if Voldemort might be behind it. He explained he had been getting weird surges of pain from his scar and decided to see if there was a pattern to them. Tracey agreed to help him out by assisting him in keeping notes. He concluded from this record that somebody in the castle was helping Voldemort and that it was probable one of the teachers who had helped protect the stone was guilty.

{}{}{}

The Quidditch match between Slytherin and Hufflepuff distracted Harry over the next few weeks. Slytherin won but the margin was probably too small for them to win the Quidditch Cup. They now had to hope Ravenclaw beat Gryffindor by less than 100 points, if Gryffindor won the cup was theirs and if Ravenclaw won by more than 100 they would win.

Exams also distracted Harry. He got through all his exams and thought he had done well. Tracey was confident of reasonable results too while the rest of the first years also seemed satisfied with their efforts. The afternoon after their last exam Harry, who had been thinking back over the year's events, suddenly realised something that had happened many weeks earlier had a sinister undertone. Who was the man whom Hagrid had won the dragon egg off? As he sat outside in the sun watching an owl fly up to the castle he told Tracey of his suspicions.

"I think the person who gave Hagrid that dragon egg might be the one after the stone," he said.

Tracey realised what he was saying. "We need to see Hagrid, now."

They ran to Hagrid's cabin. "Hagrid," Harry called.

"Hello, Harry; hello Tracey. How are yeh?"

"Hagrid, when you won that dragon egg, did you talk to this man about anything?"

"Yeah. We talked all sorts of things, what I did; what types of animals I had here. Why are yeh askin'?"

"Did you talk about Fluffy?" Tracey asked.

"Yeah. He asked me how I handled some of the animals an' I told him after Fluffy a dragon would be easy. I told 'im it was jus' a matter of knowin' what to do. Like wi' Fluffy all yeh have to do is play some music an' he'll drop off to sleep jus' like that. Wait, forget I said that."

"We've gotta go," Harry said as he and Tracey ran back to the castle.


	11. 11 Quest for the Stone

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter nor am I attempting to make any personal gain from this story.

 **Harry Slithers-in; Philosopher's Stone: Chapter 11: Quest for the Stone**

When Harry and Tracey entered the castle they began looking for a notice telling them where the Headmaster's office was. They soon realised there was no signage and they had no idea where to go.

"What are the two of you doing in here?" They turned to find Professor Snape standing behind them.

"We would like to see the Headmaster, sir," Harry replied.

"What reason might you have for such a request?"

"We believe someone is trying to steal the Philosopher's Stone," Harry said, feeling very nervous.

Snape was surprised. "I have no idea how you found out what was being stored in this castle but I assure you it is perfectly safe. The Headmaster received an urgent call a short while ago and has left for London and will not be back until tomorrow. Now return to where you are supposed to be before I put you both on detention." Snape marched off down the corridor leaving Harry and Tracey in his wake.

"What do we do now?" Tracey asked.

"I'm going after the stone. Tonight, after everyone else is asleep, I am going to try and get past Fluffy and the other obstacles and retrieve the stone," Harry said.

"I'm coming too," Tracey said. "If nothing else I can stop Fluffy. I'll need to borrow that flute Hagrid gave you at Christmas, though."

"Alright. For now I think we should go back to the Common Room. I'm going to need the cloak and the flute. After that I really don't know what will happen." Harry couldn't help feeling extremely nervous about what they were planning.

They decided not to ask for any more help from their housemates. They thought it unlikely any of them would be willing to help and there was always the possibility that someone might alert Snape to their plans. As it stood Snape was one of their prime suspects and he knew that Harry and Tracey knew about the stone. If he found out what they were planning he would probably ban them from leaving the Common Room for any reason for the rest of the term.

At dinner that night Harry ate while watching what Snape was doing. For the whole meal Snape seemed to be watching Quirrell. They had earlier heard a rumour that someone had been overheard threatening Quirrell and, by the end of the meal, Harry had become convinced it was Snape. Tracey was watching the other staff as well as the Gryffindor table and she told Harry that Granger and Weasley seemed jumpy, as if they were waiting for something to happen.

That evening, after everybody else had gone to bed, Harry took his invisibility cloak from his trunk and put it on. He then silently left the dormitory and re-entered the Common Room where Tracey was waiting. She joined him under the cloak and he gave her the flute before they left.

They managed to avoid Peeves who was being his usual annoying self and reached the corridor on the third floor in good time. Just as they were about to remove the cloak, however, they heard voices approaching from down the hall.

"We have to stop Snape stealing the stone." It was Ron Weasley's voice.

"What can we do, though?" Hermione Granger replied.

"What are you doing?" Harry said as he stepped out from under the cloak, pointing his wand at the Gryffindors who both jumped back in surprise.

"We were trying to stop Snape stealing the Philosopher's Stone," Hermione replied.

"In that case we're all on the same side," Tracey said as she removed the cloak and lowered her wand.

"You're going to help us?" Ron asked, skeptically.

"You might put it that way," Harry said. "After Fluffy, what are your plans for the rest of the protection barriers the teachers put up?"

"We are just going to play it by ear," Hermione said.

"Right. Harry, open the door for me," Tracey said. Harry cast "Alohomora" and the door swung open. Tracey then started a perfect rendition of Greensleeves. Fluffy barked once and then fell asleep.

"Well, let's open the trapdoor then," Hermione said. Harry and Ron moved one of Fluffy's paws aside and opened the trapdoor in the floor. The whole time Tracey was playing the flute.

"We should have brought brooms," Harry said as he stared into a seemingly bottomless pit. "I guess we have to jump."

"Is that safe?" Hermione said as Harry sat on the edge of the hole.

"It'll have to be," Harry replied before sliding off the edge.

After a few seconds of cold air whistling past him Harry landed on something soft. It was too dark to see so he called up to the others, "It's a soft landing. You can jump."

Ron followed, landing next to Harry as Harry took out his wand and cast "Lumos."

Hermione landed nearby as Harry and Ron looked around them. Above them the music stopped and Tracey landed on Harry's other side just as Hermione gasped, "This is Devil's Snare. Stay calm while I think of a solution."

Hermione relaxed and slid out of sight. Ron yelled "Hermione."

"Devil's Snare likes it cool and dark. We need to light a fire but there's no wood," Hermione sounded panicky.

"Are you a witch or not!" Ron roared as the Devil's Snare started strangling him. Tracey pulled out her wand and joined Harry in driving the plant back with their lit wands.

"Oh. Of course," Hermione said. Moments later a blindingly bright light filled the chamber. Harry, Ron and Tracey fell to the floor before jumping to their feet and running away from the Devil's Snare.

After regaining their breaths Tracey said, "That is Professor Sprout's trap, and Hagrid placed Fluffy up the top. That leaves Flitwick, McGonagall, Snape and Quirrell, plus whatever Dumbledore himself put up."

"You know who placed protections around the stone?" said a surprised Ron.

"Didn't you even bother to do any investigating?" Tracey asked. "Even after all that time you spent with Hagrid you never thought to ask him about who had helped protect the stone?"

"Come on," Harry said before Ron could reply. "We need to get moving."

Soon they could hear the sound of fluttering wings. They entered a high ceilinged chamber which contained a number of brightly coloured birds. "Do you think they'll attack us if we try to cross the chamber?" Hermione asked.

"Probably," Harry replied. "Only one way to find out." Ha ran across to the door on the other side and tried the handle. It was locked but the birds didn't attack him anyway.

"Alohomora." Ron said when he arrived but nothing happened. "Worth a try," he shrugged.

"There must be a key," Tracey said. "Hermione? What's wrong with your wrist?"

"It's nothing. I just landed on it back there," Hermione replied.

"Let me see that." Tracey grabbed Hermione's wrist and examined it. "You've sprained it quite badly. I can strap it for you but that's all. It will have to do for now."

"Leave her alone," Ron said glaring at Tracey.

"I've done a muggle first aid course. I know what I'm doing," Tracey replied. Hermione let Tracey examine her wrist.

"Wait a minute," Harry said. "These aren't birds; they're keys. One of them must open the lock."

While Tracey strapped Hermione's wrist Harry and Ron identified the key they needed and Harry climbed onto one of the brooms someone had conveniently left in the room and chased it down. It was just like trying to catch the snitch during a game of Quidditch and Harry had no trouble catching it.

Once they were all through the door they found themselves in a large chamber. Torches flared into life as soon as they had closed the door to reveal a life-sized chess set. Ron's eyes lit up when he saw it. "This one's mine," he said. "I am a pretty good player and my guess is we have to play our way across."

"I'll trust you this time but, if you need any help, I'm a useful player too," Tracey said. "We figured out that You Know Who is hiding in the forest and that he wants the stone so he can become immortal. Harry stopped him last time and I think Harry will be the one to stop him this time, too. As such I think Harry should take the place of the king."

"You Know Who is hiding in the forest?" asked a shocked sounding Hermione.

"Yeah. Draco told Harry when he came back from his detention, and Harry told me. Together we realised what must be happening; someone in this castle, almost certainly one of the teachers who is helping protect the stone, is trying to steal it for him," Tracey explained.

"I suppose you want to be the queen?" Ron asked Tracey.

"No. The queen usually gets targeted because it's so powerful. I would much prefer being a bishop."

Hermione took the place of a rook while Ron became a knight. With that sorted they each took the place of a black chess piece. It proved to be a violent game, every time a piece was captured it was smashed and dragged off the board. On more than one occasion Ron only just spotted one of the others in trouble in time to save them.

Ron's strategy worked well and soon the others realised they were about to win the game. Eventually Ron got one of his pieces into a position to checkmate the king but it would require him to sacrifice himself. "When I make my move the white queen will capture me but Tracey, you'll be able to checkmate the king. Got it?"

"Ron, no," Hermione called.

"Look, we have to win, and this is the quickest way to do it," Ron replied.

"He's right," Tracey said. "After this we still have Snape's and Quirrell's traps to get through. Hermione, you go on with Harry and I'll take care of Ron, okay?"

"No there must be another way," Hermione said but Ron shook his head.

"The most important thing is to stop Snape, Hermione," Ron said. "You and Harry are our best chance." Very reluctantly Hermione agreed.

With that resolved Ron moved and was knocked unconscious and dragged from the board. Tracey checkmated the king ending the game. Harry and Hermione left together, leaving Tracey to look after the injured Ron.

The next chamber contained an unconscious troll. They quickly left that behind since it smelt even worse than the one from Halloween had. After they had entered the next chamber black flames leapt up to block the way back and purple flames appeared blocking the way forward. In the chamber they found a series of vials and a clue in the form of a riddle which Hermione solved in minutes.

"We were wrong about one thing," Harry said. "Snape isn't the one trying to steal the stone, it's Quirrell."

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked.

"Flitwick charmed the keys to make them fly, and McGonagall must have transfigured the chess pieces. We all know Snape is a potions expert. This room is clearly his contribution to the protection of the stone which means that troll must have been Quirrell's idea. Remember it was a troll that got into the castle on Halloween? I bet Quirrell let it in and then only pretended to faint. Once everybody was gone he set off for the third floor but Snape and McGonagall caught him. Why else would he have been with them when they came into that bathroom?"

Hermione thought about it for a moment then nodded. "I think you're right," she said. "Everything suddenly makes sense now you've put it like that. Drink this. It will allow you to pass through the purple flames. I'll take some of this potion. It will allow me to go back. Good luck."


	12. 12 The Man with Two Faces

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter nor am I attempting to make any personal gain from this story.

 **Harry Slithers-in; Philosopher's Stone: Chapter 12: The Man with Two Faces**

Harryburst into the next chamber, pointed his wand at Quirrell and shouted "Petrificus Totalis." Before he even finished saying the spell, however, he found himself bound from head to foot in magical ropes and with a magical gag in his mouth.

"Good try, Potter," Quirrell said without turning around. "Although you will need to be far quicker than that if you want to catch me unprepared." Harry noticed Quirrell wasn't stuttering.

Unable to move Harry looked around the room. It was a large, circular room about the same size as the Slytherin Common Room, and it appeared to have four entrances spaced equally around the walls. From each of these entrances a series of benches descended to a lower, central floor that surrounded another set of benches leading to a central Dias. Harry was surprised to see the Mirror of Erised in the centre of the Dias.

"I don't understand," Quirrell said. "I see myself presenting the stone to my master but I cannot see myself getting it. Is it inside the mirror? Do I have to smash the mirror to get it?"

Harry tried to move but he was bound too tightly. All he succeeded in doing was overbalancing. Unable to stop himself he fell to the floor. The sharp pain in his shoulder and upper arm made him realise he had injured himself. But then something happened to make him stop. It was a voice that was so inhuman it chilled him to the bone. "Use the boy."

"Potter," Quirrell snarled. "Come here." Harry felt himself lifted off the ground and carried to the centre of the Dias. The ropes binding him fell away as he landed. "Tell me, Potter, What do you see?"

In the mirror Harry saw himself alone and scared. His left arm hung awkwardly, that was the one he had landed on and it looked as if he had damaged his shoulder. He looked at his right arm and saw in his hand the Philosopher's Stone. He watched as his hand went to his pocket and dropped the stone. Then he felt something heavy land in his real pocket; incredibly he now had the Philosopher's Stone.

Thinking quickly, Harry said "I see myself shaking hands with Dumbledore. He is congratulating me for saving the school from some kind of monster."

Quirrell angrily pushed Harry away. "Go away you useless boy," he snarled. Trying not to appear in too much of a hurry he walked down the benches away from the Dias but before he'd even reached the bottom the same cold, hateful voice he had heard earlier spoke again. "He lies."

"Potter, don't move. What did you really see? Tell me!"

"Let me speak to him, face to face," the voice said.

"Master, you are not strong enough." Quirrell seemed to be talking to himself.

"I am strong enough for this." Quirrell reached up and began unwinding his turban. Harry tried to run but found he couldn't move. The turban fell away and Quirrell turned around. Harry wanted to scream but he couldn't. What he saw was the most horrific thing he had ever experienced. Instead of the back of Quirrell's head there was a face. A hideous, snakelike humanoid face straight out of a horror movie.

"Harry Potter," the face said in the same cold, hateful voice Harry had heard earlier. "See what has become of me. I, the true heir of the great Salazar Slytherin, am little more than spirit. But if you give me that stone in your pocket I shall be restored. And you shall rule at my side."

Harry knew the face belonged to Lord Voldemort. He now understood what had happened back in September at the welcoming feast. It was Voldemort who had caused his scar to throb suddenly, not Snape.

"Join me, Harry Potter," Voldemort said. "With that stone I can perform great deeds. With it I can bring your parents back."

"You killed my parents," Harry shouted. Desperately he looked around for an exit. The one he had entered through was the closest and he began edging toward it.

"Your father fought bravely and died a noble death," Voldemort said. "Your mother need not have died. She tried to protect you. She offered herself instead. I told her that if she stood aside she wouldn't be hurt. I, Lord Voldemort, promised not to kill her but she refused my generous offer. I offered your mother her life and she refused. Do not make the same mistake, Harry Potter."

"I will never join you. You are a murderer. You are evil," Harry said.

"There is no such thing as good and evil, only power and those too weak to seize it."

"I will never join you."

"Seize him," Voldemort screamed. Quirrell lunged at Harry and grabbed his arm. Harry's scar seemed to explode; the pain was so severe. But he could hear screaming over his own. Quirrell released Harry and looked at his hand.

"Master, it burns," Quirrell said. Harry could see Quirrell's hand; the flesh was red and shiny.

"Then kill him."

Quirrell lunged at Harry, knocking him to the floor and landing on him and pinning him down. Harry tried pushing Quirrell off but Quirrell grabbed hold of Harry's throat and began strangling him. Harry tried again and Quirrell released him. Both Quirrell's hands were burnt.

"Kill him," Voldemort screamed. Quirrell drew his wand and pointed it at Harry who desperately grabbed Quirrell's face. Harry was screaming in pain but so was Quirrell. Then, over all the noise, Harry thought he could hear someone calling his name. Then Quirrell was gone. Harry thought it was all over and that he had lost. He passed into unconsciousness.

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Harry was warm and comfortable. He opened his eyes and could see a glint of gold. The snitch. He reached for it but it was gone. He blinked and found himself looking into the face of Albus Dumbledore.

"Good afternoon, Harry," Dumbledore said.

"Professor Dumbledore," Harry said as he looked around him. He noticed a huge pile of sweets on a table beside his bed. He realised he was in the hospital wing.

"Presents from your many friends and admirers after your heroic deeds."

"Sir. Quirrell is after the Philosopher's Stone," Harry said.

"Relax, Harry. Professor Quirrell does not have the stone. I arrived in time to pull him off you but you were doing a very good job on your own."

"If Quirrell doesn't have the stone then who does?"

"The stone has been destroyed," Dumbledore replied.

"Destroyed? But won't that mean that Nicolas Flamel and his wife will die?"

"You really did do a thorough job didn't you? So you found out about my old friend Nicolas and his wife. They have enough elixir to keep them alive long enough to tidy up their affairs but eventually they will die. Harry, to someone as young as you I'm sure death is not something you want to think about but, when you have lived a long, full life, it really is just like going to sleep at the end of a very long day."

Harry didn't understand what Dumbledore meant but accepted it. Besides, he had other things on his mind. "How long have I been here?" he asked.

"Three days. Your friends, especially Miss Davis, have been very worried and will be greatly relieved you have regained consciousness."

"How are they? Are they all ok? Hermione, Ron…"

"So you consider Mr Weasley and Miss Granger friends? That really is wonderful. They are all fine. Miss Granger's wrist was healed by Madam Pomfrey and Mr Weasley's concussion was not bad. He is already over it.

"Sir, what will happen to Professor Quirrell?"

"Lord Voldemort is very hard on those who fail him. By allowing Voldemort to possess him Professor Quirrell severely harmed his own health. When Quirrell failed to secure the stone Voldemort left him to die. I am afraid that Professor Quirrell is no more," Dumbledore concluded.

"So he's dead?" Harry asked. Dumbledore nodded. "What about you-know who?"

"Call him Lord Voldemort, Harry. To be afraid of a name is to greatly enhance the fear of the thing, or person, itself. Voldemort is gone. His spirit fled the chamber just as I arrived. I pulled Quirrell from you but I thought I may already have been too late. Your efforts in protecting the stone almost killed you."

"Even without the stone, won't Lord Voldemort keep trying to come back?"

"There are other methods he can use, yes. But, as long as there is someone who is willing and able to thwart his plans, that fateful day can be postponed again and again until, eventually, he is finally defeated forever."

Harry nodded but quickly stopped – the movement made his head spin. Instead he thought about things that had happened. The events of Christmas came to mind. "Sir? When you caught Tracey and me with the Mirror of Erised you said a couple of things that confused me. Firstly, did you give me the invisibility cloak?"

"Yes. Your father did indeed loan me the cloak and it has been in my possession since then. It is yours, though, by right of inheritance so I returned it to you when I felt it would be safe to do so. I knew I would have to wait until you started here at Hogwarts which is why I did not return it sooner."

"Also from that night; why did you only give Tracey and me a warning? Why not a detention?"

"Do you wish I had given you detentions?" Dumbledore asked, a twinkle in his eye.

"No; but we did break school rules. We were curious about it, that's all."

"It was school holidays; you had just acquired a valuable item and wanted to try it out. Curiosity is not a sin, although you do need to exercise care about where you go and what you do."

Deciding this would be a good chance to gain more information, Harry decided to ask some more questions. "When I was sorted there was almost complete silence but everybody else received loud applause. Even you seemed surprised and, perhaps even, disappointed."

"I must admit I, along with most of the staff and, it appears, many of the students had expected you would follow your parents and become a Gryffindor. The events of this year, however, have proved conclusively the Sorting Hat placed you correctly. Indeed, inter-house unity has never been stronger. Harry, you have already achieved greatness and long may the strong ties between the houses continue."

"In that chamber, Voldemort said my mother need not have died. He said he even offered her the chance of life if she stepped aside. But why did he want to kill me in the first place?"

"I am afraid I cannot answer that question Harry. Sometime, when you are older, when you are ready, you will know," Dumbledore replied.

Harry was disappointed with the answer but decided not to push it. Instead, he asked, "Why couldn't Professor Quirrell touch me?"

"Your mother died to save you. Voldemort cannot understand true love. He does not understand that love is a powerful tool that grants a protection of its own that no magic can penetrate. Driven by greed and ambition, Professor Quirrell saw only power and, as such, could not understand something so pure and good."

There was one other matter Harry was curious about but he wasn't sure how to bring it up. Finally, he decided to just ask. "Sir? Professor Snape seems to hate me but I don't understand why. Before I came to Hogwarts I had never met him so why should he dislike me?"

"Professor Snape was in the same year as your parents and he and your father had an intense dislike for each other. Then, one day your father did something that Professor Snape could never forgive; your father saved his life."

"What?" Harry was shocked.

"Yes," Dumbledore replied with a sigh. "Your father saved Professor Snape's life and then, when the situation was reversed, he was unable to help your parents. It seems he feels that, by protecting you, he can at least in some way pay back that debt but he feels he can never look upon you without seeing your father. You do look remarkably like James, but you have Lily's eyes.

"Now, you need your rest. In a few days you will be up and about and back to normal. I wonder," Dumbledore was looking at Harry's pile of sweets. "You know, in my youth I had a liking for Bertie Botts' Every Flavour Beans, until I got a vomit flavoured one. After that I rather lost my appetite for them. I wonder if I may try a toffee." Dumbledore put the sweet in his mouth "Alas, earwax."

Harry lay back in bed as Dumbledore left thinking about what he had learnt from their conversation. It was obvious Dumbledore knew more than he was letting on and Harry resolved to learn as much as possible about his family, Snape and their relationship. The only questions were when and how to ask.


	13. 13 Year's End

**Author's Note:** When I was writing Chapter 12 I thought I had reached a reasonable conclusion to this story but, while reviewing it, I realised I needed more explanation of certain events. After adding this extra information I realised I had nearly enough material for two chapters. I found a convenient place to split it so here is Chapter 12 Part 2.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter nor am I attempting to make any personal gain from this story.

 **Harry Slithers-in; Philosopher's Stone: Chapter 13: Year's End**

Harry's next visitor was Tracey. As soon as she had heard he was awake she had insisted on visiting. "Harry, you're awake." She seemed to be fighting with herself over whether she should give him a hug. Harry hoped she didn't; he still felt quite stiff and sore.

"I'm ok, Tracey. I just need some rest."

Tracey sat next to his bed. "When Hermione told you were going on alone to face Professor Quirrell I was so afraid. Why didn't you take her with you?"

"There was only enough potion for one person," Harry explained. "If I didn't go alone she would've had to do it. Besides, I stopped Voldemort once so I thought I could do it again."

Tracey shuddered when Harry said Voldemort's name but otherwise she hadn't reacted. After a moment she asked, "What happened after you left the chess room?"

Harry explained in detail what had happened including how he figured out it was Quirrell and not Snape who had been trying to steal the stone; how he had attempted to capture Quirrell but how Quirrell had been too fast for him. He explained how he somehow managed to get the stone out of the mirror but was caught before he could sneak off with it. He then told her about Quirrell's turban and the strange voice that had told Quirrell to let him face Harry. When he said Voldemort was attached to the back of Quirrell's head Tracey had shrieked, drawing Madam Pomfrey's attention and causing her to be escorted from the hospital for 'upsetting the patients' even though Harry was the only patient. Madam Pomfrey wouldn't let Tracey back in after that.

Hagrid came to visit later that day and he brought with him a present. "Professor Dumbledore gave me the day off an' told me to visit yer parents' old friends so I could collect these for yer. O' course he shoulda given me the sack fer wha' 'appened between yer an' Professor Quirrell," Hagrid explained as he gave Harry a photo album. When Harry opened it he found pictures of his parents including their wedding photo. To Harry this was the greatest gift he had ever received and he stammered his thanks to Hagrid. He was so happy he couldn't speak properly.

When he was finally released from the hospital wing it was the last day of term. In the meantime he had been visited by almost all his fellow Slytherin first years (Tracey was only allowed to visit him after Dumbledore personally intervened on her behalf) and by Ron and Hermione. They were all shocked to find out that Voldemort had been possessing Quirrell's body and were generally impressed that he had successfully fought Quirrell off, although they were surprised to hear Dumbledore had destroyed the Philosopher's Stone.

His visitors had also brought news of their own. While Harry had been unconscious Ravenclaw had comfortably defeated Gryffindor and, in doing so, had won the Quidditch cup. Everyone was disappointed with this result, including Harry.

The last day of term also saw their exam results being released. Harry was very happy with his results; not only had he passed every subject but he had comfortably made the top ten for their year finishing with the 8th highest overall aggregate. Theodore Nott had done the best of all the Slytherins in finishing 4th overall while Draco Malfoy had just bettered Harry's score in finishing 7th. Daphne had achieved the highest score of the girls in finishing 12th overall and one place ahead of Beverly Runcorn. Tracey was a little disappointed with her marks which saw her miss out on the top twenty. Like Harry, however, she did pass every subject, something Daphne hadn't done even though overall Daphne's marks were much better than Tracey's. Daphne had failed History of Magic.

They learnt that Hermione Granger had achieved the highest aggregate score for their year and that Ron Weasley had somehow managed to pass every subject, although he had actually finished 20th overall. The other two places in the top four were both filled by Ravenclaws with Anthony Goldstein finishing second and Su Li finishing third.

At the other end of the scale Goyle managed to achieve the lowest score of all the first years. Professor Snape had been very disappointed with this and had told Goyle he needed to improve his academic performance otherwise he would feel Snape's wrath. Harry suspected Goyle may indeed be facing Snape's wrath in the near future. Crabbe had only done slightly better than Goyle but both of them had managed at least one passing grade. Pansy Parkinson had done well in potions but her other grades had been fairly poor – she had only passed four subjects.

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Harry went to the end of year feast along with his housemates even though Madam Pomfrey had been reluctant to let him out of the hospital wing. He took his usual seat between Tracey and Draco and waited for the feast to begin. Firstly, however, Dumbledore announced the House Cup would be awarded. As it stood Slytherin held a 10 point lead over Gryffindor with Ravenclaw 3rd and Hufflepuff 4th. Harry fully expected Slytherin would be declared the winners but Dumbledore said there were some last minute points to be added.

"Firstly," Dumbledore began, "in recognition of the best game of chess Hogwarts has seen in many a long year I award 50 points to Mr. Ronald Weasley." The Gryffindors cheered and they were joined by most of the pupils from the other houses. Slytherins, however, booed loudly because it looked as though they were being robbed of a title they had legitimately won.

"Secondly, in recognition of outstanding musical, and medical, talents, I award 50 points to Miss Tracey Davis." There was much confused muttering form all the houses; even many of the staff appeared confused by this turn of events.

"In recognition of the use of calm logic to save others from a potentially deadly situation I award 50 points to Miss Hermione Granger." Gryffindor was back in the lead but this announcement was greeted with almost total silence.

"There are of course many different forms of bravery; one of which involves showing courage to stand up to your friends when you think they are being foolish. For this reason I award 10 points to Neville Longbottom." There was now only surprise and confusion in the Great Hall. Nobody knew what to expect or even really much of what was going on.

"Finally, I must recognise an outstanding act of selfless bravery that helped prevent a disaster of immeasurable proportions. In recognition of his courage in the face of a deadly adversary I award Harry Potter 50 points.

"As a result of these final adjustments and acknowledging the fact that students from different houses were able to work together so well in the face of adversity, I declare that Gryffindor and Slytherin are joint winners of the house cup for this year." Nobody quite knew how to react to this announcement. There was some muted applause but the most common emotions were shock and confusion.

After that students and staff settled down to the end of year feast. The main topic of conversation was undoubtedly the events of the last few minutes but it was difficult to tell how most people felt about these events. The Slytherins were unhappy and felt they should have won outright since they had been leading at the beginning of the feast. Harry, too, felt they had been unfairly treated but decided against voicing his opinion.

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Next morning Harry and his fellow first years boarded the boats and sailed back across the lake and then walked up the track back to Hogsmeade Railway Station where they caught the train back to London. Harry and Tracey were joined in their boat by Ron and Hermione, much to the annoyance particularly of Daphne and, to a lesser extent, the rest of the Slytherins and quite a few Gryffindors.

After boarding the train Daphne joined Harry and Tracey while Ron was ambushed by his brothers and Hermione by her fellow Gryffindor first year girls. A soon as the train had left the station Daphne closed the curtains of their compartment and the three of them changed back into muggle clothes. None of them were uncomfortable with undressing in front of each other.

"I don't think the others were too happy with our choice of companions for the boat ride across the lake," Tracey said as she opened the curtains after they finished changing.

"I know I wasn't," Daphne said. "Why would you want to sit with a Weasley?"

"Why not?" Harry replied. "Ron did help us when we were chasing Quirrell; and I trust Hermione not to do anything stupid, even if she does panic at times." Tracey agreed with him but Harry could see Daphne was less than happy with the outcome but she didn't seem to want to push the issue.

The rest of the journey passed quietly, although Malfoy did drop by along with Crabbe and Goyle and invited Harry to sit with them. Harry declined and instead asked them to stay for a while. They ended up staying for nearly an hour and had lunch with Harry and the girls when the food trolley arrived. Before they left Harry asked Malfoy to be a bit more respectful toward Ron and Hermione. Malfoy initially said no but changed his mind when Harry reminded him that he, Harry, was the heir of Slytherin. Harry added that Hermione had earned his respect and the Ron was a pureblood even if his family were not considered respectable. With that sorted things returned to normal.

At King's Cross Harry, Tracey and Daphne were joined by Robert. As they left Platform 9&3/4 Daphne introduced her mother and sister Astoria to Harry before leaving with them. Mrs Davis escorted Harry until they reached the Dursleys where she had a brief private conversation with them about Harry's welfare. Harry could Vernon was not happy but he hoped Mrs Davis' threat might be enough to keep them from treating him too badly over the summer.

Tracey and Daphne both promised they would write and Mrs. Davis said she would check on him if possible to ensure he wasn't being mistreated by his relatives. Harry also gave her the Dursley's phone number in case she had access to a telephone and wanted a non-magical means of contacting him.

After saying goodbye to the Davis' Harry left the wizarding world for summer back in the muggle world with the Dursleys where he hoped things would be better for him than they had been in previous years.

 **Author's Note:** This is the end of this story, and the end of Harry's first year. although I have received several reviews i would a few more. if you like this story then say so; if not then say it politely. Harry Slithers in; Chamber of Secrets will be up just before Easter.


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